About the Sunrise Sunset Calculator
This sunrise and sunset calculator uses the NOAA solar-position equations to work out when the sun rises and sets for any city or any latitude and longitude on any date. Alongside sunrise and sunset you get solar noon, the length of the day, civil dawn and dusk (when there is enough light to be outdoors without lamps), the morning and evening golden hour for photographers, and how much the day length is changing.
It is useful for planning a hike, a photo shoot, a wedding or a fishing trip, for timing prayers or fasts, for seeing how much daylight a move north or south would give you, and for solar-panel and garden planning. The year chart shows how sunrise, sunset and daylight change month by month at your location.
Times are for sea level and a flat horizon, and include standard atmospheric refraction; hills, buildings and weather can shift what you see by a few minutes. Preset cities follow local daylight saving time automatically; with custom coordinates enter your UTC offset for that date. Near the poles the sun may not rise or set at all: the calculator then reports “None (midnight sun)” or “None (polar night)”, and the year chart draws midnight-sun days as sunrise 0 h and sunset 24 h and polar-night days as the two lines meeting at solar noon.
How to use the sunrise sunset calculator
- 1Pick a city, or choose custom and enter latitude, longitude and UTC offset.
- 2Choose the date you are planning for.
- 3Read sunrise, sunset, solar noon and the total day length.
- 4Use civil dawn/dusk and golden hour times to plan outdoor activities or photos.
- 5Check the year chart and monthly table to see how daylight changes.
Formula and method
The calculator follows the NOAA Solar Calculator method. For the date it computes the sun’s declination δ and the equation of time (the difference between clock time and sundial time) from standard astronomical series. Solar noon is 720 minutes minus 4 minutes per degree of longitude minus the equation of time, converted to local time with the UTC offset.
The hour angle H at which the sun’s centre is 0.833° below the horizon (accounting for the sun’s radius and atmospheric refraction) gives sunrise and sunset, each 4·H minutes from solar noon; the calculation is iterated at the event time for accuracy of about a minute. Civil twilight uses 6° below the horizon, and golden hour is taken as the sun between 6° above and 4° below the horizon.
- φ
- Latitude of the location
- δ
- Solar declination on the date
- H
- Hour angle of sunrise/sunset in degrees (1° = 4 minutes)
Worked examples
New York on the June solstice 2026
On 21 June 2026 New York (UTC−4 in summer) sees sunrise at about 5:25 AM and sunset at about 8:31 PM, for roughly 15 hours 5 minutes of daylight — the longest day of the year.
London in midwinter
At 51.5° north, London gets under 8 hours of daylight on the December solstice: the sun rises around 8:04 AM and sets around 3:53 PM GMT, peaking only about 15° above the horizon.
Custom location on the equator at the equinox
At the equator on the March equinox day and night are almost equal, but refraction and the sun’s disc make the day about 12 hours 7 minutes long rather than exactly 12 hours.
Midnight sun in Tromsø, Norway
At 69.6° north the June sun stays above the horizon all night: the noon-day formula gives cos H below −1, so there is no sunrise or sunset and the day length is the full 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
How is sunrise time defined?+
Sunrise is the moment the upper edge of the sun’s disc appears on the horizon. Because the atmosphere bends light, this happens when the sun’s centre is still about 0.833° below the horizon, which is the standard used by NOAA and almanacs.
What is golden hour?+
Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low — roughly between 6° above and 4° below the horizon — giving soft, warm light prized by photographers. Its length depends on latitude and season.
What is the difference between civil twilight and sunset?+
Sunset is when the sun disappears; civil twilight continues until the sun is 6° below the horizon. During civil twilight there is usually enough natural light for most outdoor activities without artificial lighting.
Why is the earliest sunset not on the shortest day?+
Because of the equation of time, solar noon drifts later through December. In the northern mid-latitudes the earliest sunset comes about two weeks before the December solstice and the latest sunrise about two weeks after it.
How accurate are these sunrise and sunset times?+
The NOAA equations are accurate to about one minute for latitudes within ±72°. Real observations can differ by a few minutes due to terrain, elevation, buildings and unusual atmospheric conditions.