Where does the Sun rise, and where does it set?

Not just when the Sun rises, but where. Pick a city and a date for sunrise, solar noon and sunset with the bearing of each, the length of the day, and moonrise, moonset and phase — then see the same figures drawn as a 24-hour track on a real sky view.

New York — longest and shortest days

In New York the Sun rises at bearing 58° (32° north of due east) at the June solstice and sets at 302°; in December it rises at 121° and sets at 239°. Only at the equinoxes does it rise due east and set due west. These figures move by a minute or two between years, and the solstice dates by a day, so they hold whatever year you read them in.

Month by month (first of each month)

Things worth knowing

One time zone covers many degrees of longitude, so clock noon and solar noon differ. In New York the Sun peaks around 13:04. On top of that the equation of time — from Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt — shifts solar noon by up to ±16 minutes through the year.

These figures assume a flat horizon; hills, buildings or sea haze can delay the Sun you actually see by minutes to tens of minutes. Facing open water, the calculation is close to what you get. Moonrise and moonset slip about 50 minutes later each day, so they need a date rather than a table — pick one above.

FAQ

Does the Sun rise exactly in the east?

Only at the equinoxes. In summer it rises north of east, in winter south of east, and the swing grows with latitude — about 60° across the year in London, but only 27° in Singapore.

What is the sunrise bearing good for?

Whether a window catches the morning sun, which building the Sun will set behind in a photograph, which way to pitch a tent — none of those are answered by a time, only by a bearing.

What definition do these times use?

The moment the centre of the Sun reaches −0.833° altitude — the standard definition, allowing 34′ for refraction and 16′ for the solar radius; the Moon uses +0.125°. A flat horizon is assumed, so hills or buildings will delay what you actually see.

Do the figures change from year to year?

Hardly at all. For a given city the June-solstice sunrise moves by a minute or two between years and the solstice dates by a day, which is why the tables below carry no year. The Moon is different — moonrise, moonset and phase shift a lot from day to day, so pick a date above.

Can I check another year or city?

Yes — pick any of 88 cities and any date above and it recomputes on the spot. For anywhere else, set the observing site in the simulator: it searches over 1,400 cities, observatories and dark-sky sites, and accepts raw coordinates.

What engine does this use?

The same one the simulator draws with — the Sun from Meeus chapter 25, the Moon from an abridged ELP. That is why the times here and the track on the sky screen always agree.

Cities 88

Selecting one recalculates everything above for that city.

United States

New YorkLos AngelesChicagoHoustonPhoenixPhiladelphiaSan DiegoDallasSan FranciscoSeattleDenverBostonAtlantaMiamiLas VegasAnchorageHonolulu

United Kingdom & Ireland

LondonManchesterBirminghamGlasgowEdinburghCardiffDublin

Canada

TorontoVancouverMontrealCalgaryYellowknife

Australia & New Zealand

SydneyMelbourneBrisbanePerthAdelaideCanberraHobartAucklandWellington

Europe

ParisBerlinMadridBarcelonaRomeAmsterdamLisbonStockholmOsloHelsinkiReykjavikTromsø

Asia

TokyoOsakaSapporoBeijingShanghaiHong KongTaipeiBangkokManilaJakartaDelhiMumbaiSingapore

Africa & Middle East

DubaiCairoJohannesburgCape TownNairobiLagos

Latin America

Mexico CitySão PauloBuenos Aires

Korea

SeoulBusanIncheonDaeguDaejeonGwangjuUlsanSuwonJejuGangneungJeonjuCheongjuChuncheonPohangYeosuUlleungdo