Sunrise and Sunset Calculator
Computes sun times from coordinates and date using standard solar algorithms.
By Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor · Updated October 2026
For example, New York's longest day (June 21) runs about 05:24 to 20:30 — 15.1 hours of daylight — while December 21 squeezes it to 07:16–16:31, just 9.25 hours.
How to use Sunrise and Sunset Calculator
The day's bookends, computed for your exact spot:
The Sunrise and Sunset Calculator gives the sunrise and sunset times and the day length between them, for any coordinates and date. Enter the place and day and read the Sun's schedule: first light's anchor, the evening's deadline, and how the two slide against each other through the seasons.
- 1Set location and date.
- 2Read sunrise, sunset and noon.
What people use Sunrise and Sunset Calculator for
1. Outdoor planning of every kind
Hikes, rides, shoots and sails all end at sunset. The walking-specific version is the Time to Sunset Walk Planner; the light before and after lives in the twilight calculators.
2. Gardeners and farmers
Day length (photoperiod) drives planting decisions as much as frost dates — read your latitude's curve here.
3. Home light and energy
When the lamps come on is a sunset question; the year's swing (New York: 9.25 to 15.1 hours) is your lighting bill's hidden variable.
4. Religious and cultural observance
Fasting days, Sabbath candles and festival timings key off sunset — the calculator supplies the local figure.
Worked examples
Computed: June 21 sunrise 05:24, sunset 20:30 (15.1 h). December 21 sunrise 07:16, sunset 16:31 (9.25 h). The winter day is barely three-fifths of the summer one.
June 21: 04:42–21:21 (16.6 h). December 21: 08:03–15:53 (7.8 h). Higher latitude buys glorious June evenings with December afternoons that end at tea time.
What the times assume
The standard definitions behind the numbers.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sunrise/sunset | The Sun's upper edge at the horizon, with standard refraction — the almanac definition |
| Day length | Sunset minus sunrise, to the minute |
| Solar noon | Midway between them (clock-shifted by longitude and the equation of time) |
| Horizon | Level and unobstructed — sea-horizon geometry |
Mountains, buildings and even your elevation move observed times by minutes. The calculator is the astronomical schedule; terrain edits it locally.
Sunrise and sunset are calculated events with a defined horizon convention
Sunrise and sunset times depend on date, latitude, longitude and the standard definition of when the Sun's upper edge appears or disappears near the horizon. MapBench uses a documented astronomical method rather than a fixed day-length table, which is why the result changes continuously with season and location.
Local terrain, tall buildings and weather can shift what you physically observe compared with the geometric horizon calculation. Time-zone and daylight-saving rules also change the clock label without changing solar geometry. Use the calculator for planning photography, outdoor activity and daylight comparison, while treating a blocked local horizon as a separate real-world factor.
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 and Sunset Calculator:
- 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
Solar times are calculated from latitude, longitude and date using the local astronomy formulas; timezone conversion uses a coordinate lookup and the browser timezone database. Polar days may have no sunrise or sunset.
For source details, licences and model limitations, see Data Sources and Methodology.
Key terms worth knowing
- Synodic month
- The 29.53-day new-moon-to-new-moon cycle behind phases.
- Declination
- The sun's latitude-equivalent angle, ±23.44° across the year.
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
- Solar times are calculated from latitude, longitude and date using the local astronomy formulas; timezone conversion uses a coordinate lookup and the browser timezone database. Polar days may have no sunrise or sunset.
- 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.
Horizon blocked?
Times assume a flat horizon; mountains shift what you see.
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.
Does it account for a blocked horizon?
No — times assume a level, open horizon. A ridge to your east delays your seen sunrise (and the note is printed because valleys live by it). Elevation and obstruction tools refine special cases.
How accurate are the times?
Within about a minute for most inhabited latitudes with the standard solar algorithm — weather and horizon decide what you witness.
Why do sunrise and sunset not shift symmetrically?
The equation of time slides both, so the earliest sunrise and latest sunset fall on different dates (mid-June's bookends straddle the solstice asymmetrically).
Daylight saving handled?
Times are reported for the place's clock rules where the tool applies them — and the Sun itself ignores DST entirely, as the base questions on this page note.
What about twilight?
Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight each have their own calculator here — sunset is not darkness, and the gap matters.
Polar places with no sunrise?
Inside the circles the Sun can skip rising or setting for weeks — the Polar Day / Night Checker gives the verdict this page cannot print.
Can I get a whole month?
Date by date — or read the shape from the solstice/equinox anchors: the change is fastest at the equinoxes (about 2–3 minutes a day at mid-latitudes).
Southern hemisphere?
Fully — seasons and swings mirror; December is their long-day month.
Related tools and resources
Twilights: the Civil Twilight Calculator and Nautical Twilight Calculator; midday: the Solar Noon Calculator; walk version: the Time to Sunset Walk Planner.
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 and Sunset Calculator 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.