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Sunrise & sunset calculator

Enter a date and your geographic coordinates (or use your device location) to see sunrise, sunset, solar noon and day length.

How Sunrise & sunset times works

Sunrise & Sunset Times computes the exact sunrise, sunset, solar noon and total day length for any location and date using standard astronomical algorithms, all inside your browser. You provide the latitude and longitude of your chosen location, either by typing them yourself or by tapping the location button to fill them from your device with your permission, choose a date, and the tool calculates the solar events using the NOAA solar position formulas. No query is sent to a server; the formulas run entirely in JavaScript.

The calculations account for the equation of time, the solar declination for the given date, and the observer's latitude to determine the hour angle at which the sun crosses the horizon. Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight times are also derived from the same angular calculations using their respective depression angles (6, 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon). At extreme latitudes near the poles, the tool correctly reports polar day or polar night conditions rather than fabricating a sunrise time. Pick the time zone from the list and the clock times follow it, with daylight saving resolved for the date you selected rather than a fixed numeric offset you would have to adjust twice a year.

Written by Bastien Sulyan

How to use Sunrise & sunset times, step by step

  1. Enter the latitude and longitude of your location, or tap the location button to fill them from your device with your permission.
  2. Choose the date you want solar times for.
  3. Read the sunrise, solar noon, sunset and day-length values displayed.
  4. Check the civil, nautical and astronomical twilight times if you need them.
  5. Change the date to explore how day length varies across the year for that location.

Common use cases

  • A photographer planning a golden-hour shoot at a specific location checks the exact sunrise time for the chosen date to arrive at the right moment.
  • A gardener checks how many hours of daylight their plot will receive on the summer solstice to plan watering and growing schedules.
  • A hiker planning an early-morning mountain start looks up civil twilight time to know when there will be enough light to navigate without a torch.
  • An astronomer confirms the end of astronomical twilight for an observation night to know when the sky will be fully dark.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate are the calculated sunrise and sunset times?

The tool uses the NOAA solar position algorithm, which is accurate to within one to two minutes for most latitudes and dates. Atmospheric refraction at the horizon is included in the calculation using the standard 0.833-degree correction. For critical timing such as religious observances, confirm with a verified source for your exact coordinates.

What does solar noon mean, and is it the same as 12:00?

Solar noon is the moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky for your location on that date. It is rarely 12:00 because clocks are set to fixed timezone offsets rather than tracking the sun's actual position. The difference between solar noon and clock noon can be up to 16 minutes depending on the date and your position within the timezone.

What happens at very high latitudes where the sun does not rise or set?

At latitudes above approximately 66.5 degrees (the Arctic and Antarctic circles), the sun may remain above or below the horizon for the entire day around the solstices. The tool reports polar day (midnight sun) or polar night (sun below horizon all day) rather than showing a sunrise or sunset time that does not exist.

Is my location sent to a server to calculate the solar times?

No. You provide the coordinates, and the solar position formulas run entirely in your browser using JavaScript. The latitude and longitude you enter stay on your device and are not transmitted to any external service. There is no place-name search: turning a city name into coordinates would require a network geocoding call, so the tool only accepts numeric coordinates that you type or the position your browser's geolocation API reports after you grant permission.

What is the difference between civil, nautical and astronomical twilight?

Civil twilight ends when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon; enough ambient light remains for most outdoor activities without artificial lighting. Nautical twilight ends at 12 degrees; the horizon is still visible at sea. Astronomical twilight ends at 18 degrees; the sky is dark enough for most astronomical observations.

Can I look up solar times for any date in history or in the future?

Yes. The astronomical formulas work correctly for any date within a reasonable range. For dates many centuries in the past or far in the future, small cumulative errors in Earth's orbital model may introduce minor inaccuracies, but for dates within the next few hundred years the results are reliable.

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