Sunrise, Sunset & Solar Noon Calculator
Find sunrise, sunset and solar noon times for any location and date.
Times for New York, US, shown in America/New_York · EDT (UTC−04:00)
Sunrise and sunset times are calculated using the NOAA solar position algorithm. The sun's position depends on the Julian Day (a continuous count of days since noon on January 1, 4713 BC), the observer's latitude and longitude, and the equation of time — a correction for Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt that shifts solar noon up to 16 minutes ahead or behind clock noon.
Why solar noon is rarely 12:00. Solar noon is the moment the sun is highest and due south (due north in the southern hemisphere), and the solar noon card shows the three things that move it off 12:00 on your clock.
- Longitude. A time zone keeps one clock for a wide band of longitude, set by its standard meridian: 75°W for US Eastern, 0° for London. The sun crosses one degree of longitude every 4 minutes, so a place west of its meridian sees noon later.
- Daylight saving time. Moving the clock forward an hour makes noon read an hour later, near 1 PM.
- The equation of time. Because Earth's orbit is elliptical and its axis is tilted, the sun runs up to about 14 minutes slow in February and 16 minutes fast in early November, against an even clock.
In the far west of a wide zone, in summer, the three add up, and solar noon can fall well after 1 PM. The results also say how much sunrise, sunset and day length moved since the day before. Near the solstices that is seconds a day; around the equinoxes, at mid-latitudes, the day changes by two to three minutes.
Solar declination is the sun's latitude on the celestial sphere. At the March and September equinoxes, declination is 0° and day length is approximately 12 hours everywhere. At the June solstice (declination +23.5°), northern latitudes have their longest day; at the December solstice (−23.5°), their shortest.
Hour angle is the key to finding sunrise and sunset. The formula cos(ω) = −tan(lat) × tan(dec) gives the hour angle at which
the sun's center crosses the horizon. The actual sunrise uses a zenith of 90.833° to account
for atmospheric refraction (~0.567°) and the sun's apparent radius (~0.267°).
Twilight types: Civil twilight (sun 6° below horizon) — enough light for outdoor activities without artificial lighting. Nautical twilight (12°) — horizon is still visible at sea. Astronomical twilight (18°) — sky is dark enough for most telescope work.
Polar phenomena: At high latitudes, if |tan(lat) × tan(dec)| > 1,
the hour angle formula has no solution. When cos(ω) < −1, the
sun never sets (midnight sun); when cos(ω) > 1, the sun never
rises (polar night).
Sources
- NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Solar Calculator. The solar position equations behind every rise, set, twilight and day-length time.
- Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd edition, chapter 27. The equinox and solstice instants, with Espenak and Meeus’s ΔT polynomial for 2005–2050.
- Test oracle: US Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications API. Published rise, set, transit and civil twilight times, the Sun’s declination and hour angle, and the season instants, for seven sites from the equator to inside the Arctic Circle.
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lat(alsolatitude) — a whole number from -90 to 90. Latitude in decimal degrees, north positive. For example 32.7767 for Dallas.lon(alsolng,longorlongitude) — a whole number from -180 to 180. Longitude in decimal degrees, east positive. For example -96.797 for Dallas.tz(alsotimezoneorzone) — text, up to 64 characters. IANA time zone the times should be shown in, such as America/Chicago. Omit it and the reader’s own zone is used, named on the page so it is never ambiguous.place(alsoname,cityorlocation) — text, up to 80 characters. What to call the coordinates on the page, such as “Dallas, US”. Display only — it does not move the location.date(alsoday,onorq) — text, up to 10 characters. The day to show, as YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today.
The tool reads these on arrival but never writes them back, so what you type here stays out of your browser history.
Sunrise & sunset times by city
Jump to a ready-made page with today's times and a year-round table.
What causes sunrise and sunset times to change throughout the year?
Earth's axial tilt (23.5°). As Earth orbits the Sun, the tilt causes the Sun to appear at different angles in the sky. Near the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun rises earlier and sets later; near the winter solstice, it does the opposite.
Why are there more daylight hours in summer?
Because of Earth's axial tilt. At the summer solstice (around June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere), the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, giving northern latitudes long days and short nights. The effect is more pronounced at higher latitudes — in Alaska, the sun barely sets in June.
When is golden hour and blue hour?
Golden hour is when the sun is low — between about 4° below and 6° above the horizon — so its light is warm and soft: just after sunrise and just before sunset. Blue hour is the deeper twilight just outside it, with the sun 4° to 6° below the horizon. These are photographers’ conventions rather than a standard; the times above use those bounds for the place and date you pick. Far enough north in winter the sun never climbs past 6°, and the whole day is golden.
What is the difference between civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight?
Civil twilight: sun is 0–6° below the horizon — enough natural light for most outdoor activities. Nautical twilight: 6–12° below — horizon still visible at sea. Astronomical twilight: 12–18° below — sky is dark enough for most telescope observations. Below 18° is true astronomical night.
What is solar noon?
Solar noon is when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky for that day — directly south (in the Northern Hemisphere) or north (in the Southern Hemisphere). It is not necessarily 12:00 PM clock time; it can differ by up to 16 minutes due to the equation of time (Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt).
What are midnight sun and polar night?
Above the Arctic Circle (66.5°N), the Sun does not set for at least one day around the summer solstice (midnight sun), and does not rise for at least one day around the winter solstice (polar night). The extreme case is the poles themselves, where each lasts roughly 6 months.
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Updated October 12, 2026