Sunrise and Sunset Times Calculator – Timehubzone (2024)

FAQs

How to solve for sunset and sunrise? ›

Sunrise/Sunset Calculations

Then the UTC time of sunrise (or sunset) in minutes is: sunrise = 720 – 4*(longitude + ha) – eqtime where longitude and hour angle are in degrees and the equation of time is in minutes.

NOTE: For latitudes greater than 72 degrees N and S, calculations are accurate to within 10 minutes. For latitudes less than +/- 72° accuracy is approximately one minute. See Solar Calculation Details for further explanation.

As sunrise and sunset are calculated from the leading and trailing edges of the Sun, respectively, and not the center, the duration of a daytime is slightly longer than nighttime (by about 10 minutes, as seen from temperate latitudes).

When you take into account those few extra minutes and consider the technical definitions, the sunrise and sunset will be skewed on the day of the equinox. A few days later, our days continue to get shorter heading into winter. The sunrise and sunset times meet up and are exactly 12 hours apart.

Actually, the Sun only rises due east and sets due west on 2 days of the year -- the spring and fall equinoxes! On other days, the Sun rises either north or south of "due east" and sets north or south of "due west." Each day the rising and setting points change slightly.

Most people can usually tell quite quickly whether the colors of the sky signify morning or evening based on where the sun is or whether it's appearing or disappearing.

For sunrise you can often see the color starting to emerge well before the colors peak, perhaps as much as hour before the official sunrise time. The peak color usually occurs perhaps 15-20 minutes before sunrise so that leaves you some time to get to your shooting location or decide if you want to go back to sleep.

A cloudless gap at the horizon will generally produce a better sunrise or sunset, as this allows better passage of light since there are no (or few) low clouds. Thin, broken clouds produce a wider array of textures and colours as the light passes through, especially when there is a variety of cloud formations.

How long before sunrise is it light? ›

Civil Twilight: Begins approximately 30 to 40 minutes before sunrise. This is when the sky starts to lighten up, and the highest clouds catch the first pink, orange, and red hues. It's also when features on the ground start to become visible.

The time interval between two successive sunrises or sunsets is called a solar day, which is also the time the Earth takes to rotate about its axis so that the Sun appears in the same position in the sky. An average solar day is divided into twenty four equal intervals, and each of it is called an hour.

Whichever pole, north or south, is pointed towards the sun will give the answer to which side of east and west that the sun will rise and set that day – anywhere in the world.

S = ST - LONG + 1.0027379 * (LST + ZONE - C). Given the local sidereal time, the right ascension and declination of the sun, and the local latitude, then the local azimuth and elevation of the sun can be determined from spherical trigonometry.

The mean solar time has been 1 Page 2 2 M. Müller fixed in such a way that it does not deviate too much from the apparent solar time. The deviations between apparent solar time and mean solar time are described by the equation of time equation of time = (apparent solar time) − (mean solar time).