Introduction
This sunset calculator tells you what time the sun will set at any spot on Earth. Pick a city, type your own latitude and longitude, or let your browser find you. Then choose a date. The tool does the math and shows you the sunset time in your local time zone and in UTC.
You get more than just one time. The calculator also shows the sunset azimuth (the compass direction where the sun goes down), how long the day lasts, and the times for civil, nautical, and astronomical dusk. Photographers can see golden hour and blue hour times, too. A colored timeline and a chart show how the sun's height changes from midnight to midnight. If you also want morning times, the Sunrise Sunset Calculator covers both ends of the day.
Need more than one day? Switch to Date Range mode to get a table of sunset times for a week, a month, or a whole year. You can export that table as a CSV file. To count the days between two dates in that span, try the Date Duration Calculator.
Live far north or far south? The tool handles that. If the sun never sets (midnight sun) or never rises (polar night), it says so and tells you the closest date with a real sunset.
Every answer comes with a step-by-step solution. You can see the Julian day, the solar declination, the equation of time, and the hour angle formula used to find the sunset. It is a good way to check your work or learn how sunset math really works. The Julian Date Calculator and the Trig Calculator are handy if you want to redo any single step by hand.
How to use our Sunset Calculator
Enter your location, the date, and your time settings. The calculator shows you the sunset time, the sunset direction, day length, dusk phases, golden hour, blue hour, and a step-by-step solution.
Location input mode: Pick "City Lookup" to search a city by name, or pick "Manual Coordinates" to type your own latitude and longitude.
Search for a city: Start typing a city name and click it in the drop-down list. The list shows the country and UTC offset.
Use My Location: Click this button to let your browser find your spot. You must allow location access.
Coordinate entry format: Choose "Decimal Degrees" for numbers like 40.7128, or "Degrees / Minutes / Seconds" to type each part on its own. If you need the ground distance between two coordinate pairs, the Lat Long Distance Calculator works from the same numbers.
Latitude: Type how far north or south you are. North is positive, south is negative. Use the ± N/S button to flip it.
Longitude: Type how far east or west you are. East is positive, west is negative. Use the ± E/W button to flip it.
Month, Day, and Year: Pick the date you want the sunset time for. Click "Today" to jump back to today's date. To look ahead, the Days from Today Calculator finds the exact calendar date a set number of days out.
Calculation mode: Choose "Single Day" for one sunset time, or "Date Range" to get a table of sunset times over many days.
Number of days / months and range unit: In range mode, type how long the range is and pick days or months. Click "Full Year" to see a whole year from January 1.
Time zone: Pick your zone from the list. It is set from your device when the page loads. Comparing two places? The Time Zone Difference Calculator shows the gap between them.
UTC offset override: Type an offset in hours if you want to set it yourself. This beats the time zone list. Use values like −5, 5.5, or 5.75. The Time Zone Calculator helps you confirm the right offset.
Daylight Saving Time: Turn this switch on to add one hour to all local times.
Time format: Choose 12-hour with AM/PM or 24-hour clock times. For military time conversions, see the Military Time Calculator.
Seconds: Tick this box to show seconds in every time.
Date format: Pick how dates look, such as MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, or YYYY-MM-DD.
Optional columns: In range mode, tick the boxes to add nautical dusk, astronomical dusk, or azimuth to the table. Click "Export as CSV" to save it.
Click Calculate to see your results, or Reset to start over.
What Is Sunset?
Sunset is the moment the top edge of the Sun drops below the horizon. After that, the sky stays bright for a while because air high above you still catches sunlight. That glow is called twilight or dusk.
Why Sunset Time Changes
Sunset time is not the same everywhere or every day. Three things move it:
- Your latitude: How far north or south you are. Places near the poles have huge swings between summer and winter.
- Your longitude: How far east or west you are inside your time zone. Being on the west edge of a zone means a later clock sunset.
- The date: Earth is tilted about 23.4°, so the Sun sits higher or lower in the sky as the year goes on. Sunsets get later in spring and earlier in fall.
Twilight Steps After Sunset
Astronomers split dusk into three stages, based on how far the Sun has sunk below the horizon:
- Civil dusk (6° below): Still light enough to read outside or drive without headlights.
- Nautical dusk (12° below): The horizon at sea is just barely visible. Bright stars show up.
- Astronomical dusk (18° below): Full dark. The last faint glow is gone and dim stars appear. If you are planning a night of stargazing, check the Moon Phase Calculator too, since a bright moon washes out faint objects.
Golden Hour and Blue Hour
Photographers love the time near sunset. Golden hour starts when the Sun is about 6° above the horizon and ends at sunset. Light is warm, soft, and orange. Blue hour comes after that, when the Sun is roughly 4° to 8° below the horizon, and the sky turns deep blue. To work out how long a shoot window lasts, the Time Duration Calculator does the subtraction for you.
Sunset Azimuth
Azimuth is the compass direction where the Sun goes down, measured in degrees from north. The Sun only sets due west (270°) near the spring and fall equinoxes. In summer it sets more toward the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere, and in winter more toward the southwest. If you are aiming panels or windows, pair this with the Sun Angle Calculator and the Solar Panel Calculator. The Angle Calculator helps with any extra bearing math.
Midnight Sun and Polar Night
Above the Arctic Circle (about 66.5° N) and below the Antarctic Circle, there are days with no sunset at all. In summer the Sun circles the sky all day. This is the midnight sun. In winter the Sun never rises, which is polar night. Long stretches of daylight or darkness can throw off your rest, so the Sleep Calculator may help you set bedtimes on those trips.
Why Sunset Is a Bit Later Than You Expect
Two effects push sunset later. First, Earth's air bends sunlight, so the Sun looks about half a degree higher than it really is. Second, sunset is timed to the Sun's upper edge, not its center. Together, these add a few minutes. That is why sunset is defined at an altitude of −0.833°, not 0°. How strongly the air bends light depends on temperature and pressure, which the Air Density Calculator explores in more detail.
Solar Noon and the Equation of Time
Solar noon is when the Sun is highest in your sky. It rarely lands at 12:00 on the clock. The equation of time explains the gap. It comes from Earth's tilted axis and its oval orbit, and it can shift sundial time up to about 16 minutes ahead of or behind clock time during the year.
Good Uses for Sunset Times
Knowing sunset helps with planning photo shoots, hikes, stargazing, sports games, travel, fishing, prayer times, and safe driving. Day length numbers also help gardeners and farmers track the growing season, alongside tools like the Plant Spacing Calculator and the Grass Seed Calculator. Travelers can match sunset against arrival times from the Flight Time Calculator or plan an evening drive with the Drive Time Calculator. For outdoor comfort near dusk, the Dew Point Calculator and the Wind Chill Calculator round out the picture.