Sunrise Time Today

Sunrise is the exact moment the top edge of the sun crosses the horizon. Dawn is earlier — it's the point when the sky first starts to lighten, at the beginning of civil twilight, roughly 20–30 minutes before sunrise depending on your latitude and the time of year.

Earth's axis is tilted about 23.4° relative to its orbit around the sun. As Earth moves along that orbit, the tilt changes how directly sunlight hits your location, shifting sunrise and sunset times day by day. The change is fastest around the equinoxes in March and September and slowest around the solstices in June and December.

Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and shortly before sunset when the sun sits low in the sky, producing soft, warm, diffused light that's popular for photography and filmmaking. It typically lasts about an hour, though the exact length varies by latitude and season — higher latitudes can have a longer golden hour.

These describe how far the sun is below the horizon before sunrise or after sunset. Civil twilight runs from 0° to 6° below the horizon — there's still enough light for most outdoor activities without artificial lighting. Nautical twilight is 6° to 12° below, when the horizon is still visible at sea for navigation. Astronomical twilight is 12° to 18° below, after which the sky is dark enough for astronomical observation.

Daylight Saving Time doesn't change when the sun actually rises or sets — it only shifts the clock time we use to describe it. When clocks "spring forward" in March, sunrise and sunset both appear an hour later on the clock; when they "fall back" in November, both appear an hour earlier. The sun's actual position in the sky is unaffected.

Solar noon is the moment the sun reaches its highest point in the sky for your location on a given day — exactly halfway between sunrise and sunset. It rarely lines up with 12:00 on the clock, since clock time is standardized across an entire time zone rather than tied to your exact longitude.

Even cities in the same time zone can have noticeably different sunrise times if they sit at different longitudes, since the sun reaches locations further east earlier. Latitude matters too — cities further from the equator see bigger seasonal swings in sunrise and sunset time than cities closer to it.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day falls on the June solstice (around June 20–21), and the shortest falls on the December solstice (around December 21–22). These dates are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. At the equinoxes in March and September, day and night are roughly equal in length worldwide.

Yes. Standard sunrise/sunset calculations assume a flat, unobstructed horizon at sea level. If you're higher up — on a mountain or a tall building — you can actually see the sun rise slightly earlier and set slightly later, since your extended line of sight reaches over the horizon. Nearby hills, buildings, or trees can have the opposite effect and delay sunrise or hasten sunset from what the calculated time shows.

Blue hour is the short window before sunrise and after sunset — roughly during civil and nautical twilight — when indirect sunlight gives the sky a deep, even blue tone. It's shorter than golden hour, typically 20–40 minutes, and is popular for cityscape and landscape photography.

Times are calculated using established solar position algorithms and are generally accurate to within a minute for most locations. Small variations can occur due to local elevation, atmospheric refraction (which can shift the apparent sunrise/sunset time by a few minutes depending on weather), and nearby terrain that blocks the true horizon.