Sunrise Direction Compass
Find where on the horizon the sun rises — useful for photography and orientation.
By Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor · Updated October 2026
For example, from New York the Sun rises at 58° in June (northeast-ish) but at 122° in December (southeast-ish) — a 63-degree swing along your horizon every year.
How to use Sunrise Direction Compass
East is a season, not a constant:
The Sunrise Direction Compass gives the compass bearing of sunrise for your place and date — where on the horizon the Sun will appear, in degrees from true north. Check it before you pick the viewpoint or align the photo.
- 1Set location and date.
- 2Read sunrise time and direction context.
What people use Sunrise Direction Compass for
1. Sunrise photography spots
The shot is geometry: stand where the sunrise bearing crosses your foreground. Pair the bearing with the Sunrise and Sunset Calculator's time and the plan is complete.
2. Alignment dates for landmarks
Avenues and avenues of stones align on specific dates (Manhattanhenge is the famous grid case). The compass finds which dates your street catches.
3. Home and garden light
Which windows get dawn light in June versus December is this bearing, read at both solstices.
4. Hiking and camping starts
Facing the dawn or avoiding its glare on the trail — know the bearing before the boots.
Worked examples
Around March 20 and September 22 the Sun rises at almost exactly 90° — due east — nearly everywhere on Earth (90.6° computed for New York on March 20). Every other date drifts from that anchor.
New York: 58.3° (June) and 121.6° (December). London swings wider: June sunrise at 50.3°, closing on northeast — higher latitude, longer lean.
Sunrise bearing through the year (New York)
Computed azimuths at sunrise — the horizon point migrates monthly.
| Date | Sunrise azimuth |
|---|---|
| March 20 (equinox) | 90.6° — due east |
| June 21 (solstice) | 58.3° — north of east |
| September 22 (equinox) | ~90° — due east again |
| December 21 (solstice) | 121.6° — south of east |
Bearings are true (geographic north). Sunset mirrors sunrise about north-south: sunset azimuth = 360° − sunrise azimuth on the same date.
How to interpret the result
The most common errors come from using a correct result to answer the wrong geographic question. Keep these points in mind for Sunrise Direction Compass:
- Convert solar times to local clock times deliberately: the sun keeps astronomical time, while governments keep political time, and the gap between them is large in many countries. State both when sharing results.
- For photography, plan around sun altitude, not clock time: golden hour is an altitude band, so its clock time migrates with the seasons even at a fixed place — the calculator's windows handle that for you.
Limits & appropriate use
Solar arithmetic's limits are small but real: the official zenith encodes average refraction, not today's atmosphere; coordinates are rounded to your input's precision; and terrain is absent unless you add height yourself — a mountain rises the sun late and the formulas won't know. Time adds the political layer: zones and DST are human law, and western edges of big zones (Spain, western China) make solar noon wander hours from clock noon. Every output here therefore carries its convention and both clocks, because an unanchored sunrise time is an argument, not a fact.
Lunar and seasonal outputs carry their own gentle limits: phase from the synodic approximation is hours-precise, which outruns every planning need but not ephemeris science; day length is geometric daylight, not sunshine, and clouds belong to climate's department. Escalation is rare and well-defined — astronomical almanacs and ephemerides for science, terrain-aware apps for mountain photography, and the tz database maintainers whenever a government invents a new DST rule at 48 hours' notice, as they delight in doing.
- Science-grade ephemerides → astronomical almanacs/JPL horizons.
- Mountain sunrise/sunset → terrain-aware horizon adjustments.
- Legal daylight definitions → jurisdictional statutes (they vary!).
Data & methodology
The shared sun workspace calculates sunrise and sunset times for a location and date; it does not show a sunrise compass direction.
For source details, licences and model limitations, see Data Sources and Methodology.
Key terms worth knowing
- Civil twilight
- Sun between 0° and −6°: usable outdoor light without lamps.
- Synodic month
- The 29.53-day new-moon-to-new-moon cycle behind phases.
Editorial guidance: MapBench explains the method and limitations so the tool can be used as a transparent reference, not as a black-box answer. For legal boundaries, safety-critical routing, surveying, engineering, regulated decisions or official statistics, verify the result with the responsible authority or a qualified professional.
Category: Sun & Moon. Results are intended for everyday analysis and planning unless a page explicitly states otherwise.
Method, assumptions & limits
- This tool’s method
- The shared sun workspace calculates sunrise and sunset times for a location and date; it does not show a sunrise compass direction.
- Before relying on the answer
- Check the date, location and time zone together. A solar or lunar event is tied to all three, and some events do not occur at high latitudes on a given date.
- What the result cannot establish
- A calculated event assumes the model's horizon and atmospheric conventions. Buildings, terrain and local weather can alter what you observe.
Coverage: Worldwide. Search, basemap and external data requests may use third-party services; browser-based does not mean every operation is offline. Read the source and licence notes, calculation methodology and privacy policy. If a result looks inconsistent, report a correction with the inputs and mode used.
Frequently asked questions
Clear answers about the calculation, accuracy and appropriate use.
Exact degree?
Solar position tools give azimuth; local horizon may block the true disk.
Are sunrise and solar times exact to what I will see?
Calculated events use astronomical geometry. Terrain, buildings, weather and atmospheric conditions can shift what an observer actually sees.
Does daylight saving change the Sun's position?
No. Daylight saving changes the civil clock label, not solar geometry. Timezone rules affect displayed local time.
Why can polar locations show unusual results?
High latitudes can have days when the Sun does not rise or set, so some solar events legitimately do not occur on a selected date.
Is the degree exact?
To the standard algorithm's precision for the Sun's centre at a level horizon — within a fraction of a degree. Your hill, tower or treeline decides what you actually see, and when.
Why doesn't the Sun rise due east?
Earth's tilt gives the Sun a seasonal declination; the rise point slides along the horizon toward the summer pole's side. Due east happens only at the equinoxes.
True north or magnetic north?
True. A physical compass needs the local declination added — the True North vs Magnetic page on this site handles the conversion.
Sunset direction too?
By symmetry: 360° minus the sunrise figure. The Sun Azimuth Calculator tracks the bearing all day if you need the full sweep.
How wide is the Sun itself?
About half a degree across — 'first gleam' and 'full disc up' differ by that much bearing and a couple of minutes.
Near the poles?
Bearings swing wildly and, inside the circles, the Sun may not rise or set at all on your date — the Polar Day / Night Checker rules there.
Southern hemisphere?
The seasons swap: December brings the northern-style northern sunrise. The compass computes your hemisphere as it finds it.
Can I find the date the Sun rises over a landmark?
Read the landmark's bearing from your spot, then scan dates until the compass matches it — the alignment-date hunt in one loop.
Related tools and resources
All-day bearing: the Sun Azimuth Calculator; times: the Sunrise and Sunset Calculator; golden light: the Golden Hour Calculator.
More free tools
Sources, methodology & editorial trust
- ✓ Browser-first processing where supported
- ✓ External sources are documented
- ✓ No account required for public tools
- ✓ Review data sources
Calculations are documented with their assumptions, limitations and source context rather than presented as unexplained answers.
Reviewed and maintained by Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor of MapBench.
Part of our sun & moon hub
Sunrise Direction Compass sits in the sun & moon cluster, alongside 27 other tools that answer neighbouring questions with different methods or datasets.
You may also need
When this answer is only part of the job, these clusters cover the next step.
Read the guide behind this tool
Chasing Golden Hour: A Photographer's Solar Toolkit — Golden hour is an altitude band, not a fixed clock time. How to plan light with solar tools — windows, horizons and moon phase — instead of guessing.