Sunrise Sunset Calculator - Times & Day Length

About the Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Photographers chasing golden hour, hikers planning a safe return, runners and cyclists avoiding the dark, farmers, sailors, those observing prayer or fasting times, and anyone curious about how long the days are — all need to know when the Sun rises and sets. The times change every day and depend strongly on where you are: on the same June day, London sees over 16 hours of daylight while Sydney sees under 10.

This sunrise sunset calculator finds sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length and civil twilight for any date and location, shown in the time zone you choose with daylight saving applied. It uses the solar position algorithm published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), based on Jean Meeus' Astronomical Algorithms, and it recognises the midnight sun and polar night near the poles.

How to Use the Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Enter the date.

Enter the latitude and longitude of the place in decimal degrees. North and east are positive; south and west are negative. London is 51.51, −0.13; Karachi 24.86, 67.00; New York 40.71, −74.01; Sydney −33.87, 151.21.

Choose the time zone to show the times in.

How the Times Are Calculated

  1. Solar noon: when the Sun crosses the local meridian,
       12:00 UTC − 4 min × longitude − equation of time
  2. The Sun's declination for the date
  3. Hour angle H at which the Sun's centre is 0.833° below the horizon:
       cos H = (sin(−0.833°) − sin φ sin δ) ÷ (cos φ cos δ)
  4. Sunrise = noon − 4 min × H;  Sunset = noon + 4 min × H

The 0.833° allows for the Sun's radius and for atmospheric refraction, which lifts the Sun's image by about half a degree near the horizon.

Step-by-Step Example

London (51.51° N, 0.13° W) on 21 June 2026.

  Solar noon:      13:02 BST
  Sunrise:         04:43 BST
  Sunset:          21:21 BST
  Day length:      16 h 38 min
  Civil twilight:  03:55 to 22:09

On 21 December 2026 the same place has sunrise at about 08:03 and sunset at 15:53 — under 8 hours of daylight.

Karachi (24.86° N, 67.00° E) on 29 September 2026: sunrise about 06:23 and sunset 18:21 Pakistan time, almost exactly 12 hours of daylight near the equinox.

Why Day Length Changes

The Earth's axis is tilted by about 23.4 degrees. In June the northern hemisphere leans towards the Sun, so the Sun climbs higher and stays up longer; in December it leans away. The effect grows with distance from the equator: near the equator days are close to 12 hours all year, while at high latitudes they swing from very long to very short. At the equinoxes, around 20 March and 22 September, day and night are nearly equal everywhere — slightly more than 12 hours of daylight, because of refraction and the size of the Sun's disc.

Twilight

After sunset the sky stays light for a while. Civil twilight lasts until the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon; there is usually enough light for outdoor activities without lamps. Nautical twilight runs to 12 degrees and astronomical twilight to 18 degrees, after which the sky is fully dark. In summer at high latitudes, twilight can last all night — in London around the June solstice, the sky never becomes fully dark.

Golden Hour and Blue Hour

Photographers plan around the light near sunrise and sunset. Golden hour — roughly the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, when the Sun is low — gives warm, soft light and long shadows. Blue hour is the period of civil twilight just before sunrise and after sunset, when the sky takes on a deep blue. Near the equator the Sun rises and sets steeply, so both are short; at high latitudes in summer the Sun skims the horizon and golden light can last for hours. Use the sunrise, sunset and twilight times from the calculator to schedule a shoot.

Midnight Sun and Polar Night

North of the Arctic Circle (about 66.6° N) and south of the Antarctic Circle, there are days when the Sun does not set at all — the midnight sun — and days when it does not rise — polar night. In Tromsø, Norway, at 69.65° N, the Sun stays up from about late May to late July. The calculator reports these cases instead of giving times.

Solar Noon and Clock Time

Solar noon is rarely at 12:00 on the clock. Time zones are wide, daylight saving adds an hour in summer, and the Earth's elliptical orbit makes solar noon drift by up to about 16 minutes through the year (the equation of time). In London, solar noon is around 13:00 in summer; in western China, which uses Beijing time, it can be after 15:00.

Understanding Your Result

The headline gives sunrise and sunset in the chosen time zone.

The solar noon line gives when the Sun is highest.

The day length line gives the hours of daylight and darkness.

The civil twilight line gives the start of morning and end of evening twilight.

The date and zone line confirms the date and the UTC offset used.

When Should You Use This Calculator?

Use it to plan photography, hikes, runs and outdoor events.

Use it to compare day length between places or seasons.

Use it for travel to high latitudes.

Use it to check lighting-up times and twilight.

Common Mistakes

Entering west longitudes as positive. West and south are negative.

Choosing the wrong time zone. The times follow the zone you select.

Expecting exact times in mountains or cities. Hills and buildings hide the horizon.

Assuming solar noon is 12:00. It rarely is.

Using the wrong date near midnight. Times belong to the date you enter, in the zone you choose.