🌅 Sunrise
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🌇 Sunset
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☀️ Day length
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Moon tonight
About these figures
Sunrise and sunset come from the Open-Meteo astronomy model for the chosen city's exact coordinates, shown in that city's own time. "Sunrise" means the moment the top edge of the sun crosses the horizon. Because the atmosphere bends light, you actually see the sun a couple of minutes before it's geometrically there. The moon phase is worked out from the average lunar month, 29.53 days, and is accurate to within about a day. The illumination percentage is approximate.
Why day length changes through the year
Earth's axis is tilted about 23.4 degrees. As we go around the sun, each hemisphere leans toward it for half the year and away for the other half. That's the whole story behind the seasons, and behind day length. At the equator, days stay close to 12 hours all year. At London's latitude they swing from under 8 hours in December to over 16 in June. Go far enough north and the swing goes all the way: above the Arctic Circle the sun doesn't set at midsummer and doesn't rise at midwinter. Try a few cities at different latitudes on the same date and you can watch it happen.
The moon's cycle in one paragraph
The moon makes no light of its own. We see whatever part of its sunlit half is facing us. As the moon goes around us, one lap every 29.5 days, that angle changes. New moon is when it sits between us and the sun, so we can't see it. Then a crescent grows into a first quarter, then a gibbous moon, then full moon when Earth is in the middle. After that it shrinks back down the same way to new. One handy trick: the full moon always rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, because it's directly opposite the sun.
Golden hour, blue hour, and photographers' timing
The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset are the golden hour, the warm low light photographers chase. The twilight just before sunrise and just after sunset is the blue hour, when everything goes a deep even blue. You can time both straight off this page. Golden hour sits just inside the sunrise and sunset figures; blue hour sits just outside them. Planning a photo shoot, a proposal, or just a good walk? Look up the times for your date and city, and remember they move a minute or two every day. There's a full golden hour guide if you want the details.
Frequently asked questions
Why do different sites give slightly different sunrise times?
Small differences in the assumed horizon, refraction model, and your exact coordinates each move the figure by a minute or so. For hills or tall buildings on your actual horizon, the sun appears later and disappears earlier than any calculated time.
When is the best time to see the moon?
Depends on the phase: a full moon owns the whole night; a first-quarter moon is highest at sunset and sets around midnight; a waning moon is best in the early morning. Crescents hug the horizon near the sun — look shortly after sunset (waxing) or before sunrise (waning).
Does the date picker work for the future?
Yes — sunrise, sunset and moon phase are astronomy, not weather, so they can be computed precisely for any date. Plan a full-moon hike months ahead.
Need the twilight stages too? The twilight times page gives civil, nautical and astronomical dawn and dusk. Deeper dives: the complete moon phases guide and how weather forecasts work — because whether you'll actually see the sunrise is a cloud question.