Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Calculate sunrise and sunset times for a latitude, longitude and date.

About Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Solar noon shifts by four minutes per degree of longitude within a time zone, which is why sunset differs by an hour across a wide zone. Sunrise and sunset are then symmetric about it. Being at the western edge of a time zone means noticeably later sunrises and sunsets than the eastern edge, on the same clock.

Formula

Sunrise Sunset

Sunrise and sunset sit half the day length either side of solar noon

solar noon: When the sun is highest, offset from clock noon by longitude
hour angle: Half the daylight arc in degrees

Worked example

With the default values below, Sunrise Sunset Calculator returns Sunrise of 05:28. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Latitudeaccepts -66–66 degrees: 40.71 degrees
Longitudeaccepts -180–180 degrees: -74.01 degrees
Day of the yearaccepts 1–366: 172
UTC offsetaccepts -12–14 hours: -4 hours

Results

Sunrise: 05:28
Sun: 20:24
Daylight Duration: 14.921 h
Solar Noon: 12:56
Solar Declination: 23.440 degrees

Step by step

1Values used
2Sunrise Sunset
3Sunrise= 05:28
4Sun= 20:24
5Daylight Duration= 14.921 h
6Solar Noon= 12:56
7Solar Declination= 23.440 degrees

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Sunrise Sunset calculated?

Sunrise and sunset sit half the day length either side of solar noon Solar noon shifts by four minutes per degree of longitude within a time zone, which is why sunset differs by an hour across a wide zone. Sunrise and sunset are then symmetric about it.

Why does Sunrise Sunset matter?

Being at the western edge of a time zone means noticeably later sunrises and sunsets than the eastern edge, on the same clock.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 4 inputs: Latitude, Longitude, Day of the year, UTC offset. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.