Sunrise, sunset and tonight's moon

About these figures

Sunrise and sunset times come from the Open-Meteo astronomical model for the selected city's exact coordinates, shown in that city's local time. "Sunrise" means the moment the sun's upper edge crosses the horizon — and because Earth's atmosphere bends light, you actually see the sun a couple of minutes before it's geometrically there. The moon phase is calculated from the mean synodic month (29.53 days) and is accurate to within about a day; illumination is approximate.

Why day length changes through the year

Earth's axis is tilted 23.4°, so as we orbit the sun, each hemisphere leans toward it for half the year and away for the other half. That's the whole story of the seasons — and of day length. At the equator, days stay near 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 becomes total: above the Arctic Circle the sun doesn't set at midsummer or rise at midwinter. Try a few cities at different latitudes on the same date and you can watch the effect grow.

The moon's cycle in one paragraph

The moon makes no light of its own — we see whatever half the sun is illuminating, from our angle. As the moon orbits us (one lap ≈ 29.5 days), that angle changes: new moon when it sits between us and the sun (invisible), waxing crescent → first quarter → waxing gibbous as more lights up, full moon when Earth is in the middle, then waning back down through last quarter to new. A handy trick: the full moon always rises around sunset and sets around sunrise — it's exactly opposite the sun.

Golden hour, blue hour, and photographers' timing

The hour after sunrise and before sunset — the golden hour — gives the warm, low-angle light photographers chase; the twilight just before sunrise and after sunset — the blue hour — gives deep even blues. Both are timed straight off this page: golden hour brackets the sunrise/sunset figures, blue hour sits just outside them. Planning a shoot, a proposal, or just a good walk? Check the times for your date and city, and remember they shift by a minute or two per day.

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.

Deeper dives: the complete moon phases guide and how weather forecasts work — because whether you'll actually see the sunrise is a cloud question.