Questions tagged [sunset]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
1 vote
0 answers
19 views

Display the lines of solar altitude on the map

Following this question: Calculate lines of equal solar altitude I would like to have the possibility of displaying the lines of equal solar altitude on the map as per the image below: including also ...
3 votes
1 answer
99 views

math tool to compute time of sunrise and sunset

What is the mathematical tool that enable to compute time of sunrise and time of sunset at a specific geographical location in the same part of a year, say given month and day exactly? I have noticed ...
  • 73
3 votes
2 answers
93 views

How to roughly calculate sunrise and sunset with a spreadsheet application

I am looking for a way to roughly calculate sunrise and sunset for a given lon/lat in mid Europe for each day of a year using a spreadsheet application. The thing doesn’t need to be very precise, but ...
  • 131
1 vote
1 answer
90 views

Meaning of $\cos H$ in the rising and setting formula

In the rising and setting formula$$\cos H=-\frac{\left(\sin\nu+\sin\phi\sin\delta\right)}{\cos\phi\cos\delta},$$ $H$ is hour angle, $\nu$ is vertical shift, $\delta$ is declination and $\phi$ is the ...
  • 1,023
2 votes
2 answers
89 views

How to find the first Julian day with the same Earth-Sun constellation

There are quite some sources for astronomical calculation formulas, e.g. Astronomy Answers: Position of the Sun, which is e.g. used by KDE's Night Color plugin to calculate the time of a sunset or ...
1 vote
2 answers
504 views

Why do sunrise/sunset times (for a given location) vary based on the source of the data?

I've noticed that different reputable weather websites will give different times for sunrise/sunset for the exact same location. I've seen variation by 25 minutes or more, for sunset on the same date ...
  • 13
4 votes
2 answers
982 views

Why isn't Spring equinox on 1st of April?

AFAIK the summer and and winter solstices are based on longest day and longest night doesn't fall on 1st of Jan and July 1st because we consider the day to begin and end when the middle of the sun is ...
4 votes
1 answer
163 views

How can I calculate my position (lat/lon) given a sequence of solar-elevation measurements at known times?

The "forward" problem (given time and lat/lon, find solar position angles) is well documented, e.g. here. I am trying to figure out the "inverse" problem: given time and [a ...
  • 43
2 votes
0 answers
58 views

Daytime length and sunrise / set cardinal directions

Let me illustrate the question with an example. On Feb 2nd 2022, the sun rises in Los Angeles at cardinal direction 110 and sets in direction 250 (according to timedate website). This means that the ...
  • 21
2 votes
0 answers
56 views

How long is the sunrise (or sunset) on North (or South) Pole? [duplicate]

I wonder how to calculate the duration of the Sun crossing the line of the horizon on equinox on Pole. For equator I used this formula: $t = \frac{2 \times p}{\cos(\phi) \times u}$, where $u$ - is ...
  • 1,017
1 vote
1 answer
248 views

What is the relationship between the shape of the analemma and the sun's azimuth at sunset at a given latitude?

I want to know how the sun's azimuth at sunset changes over the course of a year. At first, I thought it would have purely sinusoidal motion, hitting its maxima and minima at the solstices, and ...
  • 13
1 vote
1 answer
56 views

Tracking the Sun from Sunrise in the East to Sunset in the West

Is there a Correct way to mathematically allocate GPS/location of Azimuth Degrees ? EG: In the Southern Hemisphere, if North is 0 degrees, for say Sydney is direct East 90 or -90 degrees ? Then what ...
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Straightforward derivation of the sunrise equation

I'm looking for a reasonably straightforward derivation of the sunrise equation$$\cos\omega=-\tan\phi\tan\delta$$as referenced in the Wikipedia article here. I've dipped into Astronomical Algorithms ...
  • 1,023
0 votes
0 answers
43 views

What is the formula to input date, time and longitude. Where I can get latitude of the civil twilight back?

I am making a watch app, where I need to know where there is currently sun, and where it's not. I need to have some sort of formula/function to insert: date, time and longitude, and get back the ...
  • 101
2 votes
2 answers
491 views

Angle the Sun makes with the horizon during sunset

Let's say it is the day of the summer solstice and the Sun is setting at 23.5 degrees declination. I am at let's say, 10 degrees latitude. How would I go about calculating the angle of the Sun below ...
2 votes
1 answer
283 views

How does one use SPICE to calculate sunrise and sunset?

I've seen it mentioned here that SPICE can be used to calculate sunrise and sunset. How? According to the official documentation, SPICE is used to calculate: Time system conversions Positions of ...
  • 61
1 vote
1 answer
42 views

Is it easier to see the young moon when it's closer to the sun?

With the naked eye, would it be easier to see the moon when it's close to the sun, because it might reflect some more light (or not, I'm not sure) or farther from the sun because the sun shines ...
2 votes
1 answer
520 views

Does the Time of Sunset (Sunrise) Change Over Time Given a Fixed Location and Consistent Atmospheric Conditions?

Assumming a fixed location, clear skies, and consistent atmospheric conditions, does the sunset (sunrise) time change over time? For example, sunset on February 3, 2021 in Tel-Aviv, Israel, is ...
3 votes
1 answer
30 views

Timing based on upper or lower part of sun/moon

When you time an astronomical event, such as the moon/sun rising above the horizon, do you note the time when the the first sliver breeches the horizon or when the bottom of the moon/sun just becomes ...
  • 1,519
2 votes
1 answer
187 views

what degree in the sky does the sun change color?

I would like to know at what angle in the sky the sun changes from a white yellow to orange and red. I know that after sunset it's considered twilight until 18° beneath the horizon. So how many ...
17 votes
6 answers
10k views

Does the sun's rising/setting angle change every few months?

When I lived in Darwin, Australia, I noticed that the Sun set in a slightly different direction to the West. In the evenings, I used to sit on a couch and watch TV. There was a huge window to my right ...
2 votes
1 answer
337 views

Why both sunrise and sunset use the position of the sun's upper limb?

It is my understanding, that astronomical moments of both rise and set use the relative position of background object's upper limb to the foreground object's horizon. When were these definitions ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
88 views

Why the earth orbits the sun from X to -X and not the opposite [closed]

I wonder all the time, why the earth orbits the sun as expected from east to west(X to -X) ? It could be different, for example from the west towards the east . What would happen if that were the case?...
2 votes
0 answers
31 views

How to generate times of sunset along a line that crosses a continent?

Would like to avoid using single location iteration of a website that gives time of sunset each date for locations. I want to be able to produce a chart or info-graphic for publishing on a website as ...
7 votes
1 answer
914 views

problems finding rise set and transit times at high latitudes using Meeus' algorithms

I am implementing Jean Meeus' algorithm from his book "Astronomical Algorithms", 2nd ed. for rise, set and transit times in Swift. It seems to provide very good results (no more than 1 ...
  • 181
1 vote
1 answer
435 views

How to calculate sunrise and sunset on on a given date and location?

I have a given date at any time in future or past eg: 2016-04-23 or 2022-05-12 Now given at any location(lat,lng). How do i find the time of sunrise or sunset.
3 votes
1 answer
102 views

Deducing the hour based on RA

I'm making a technological project. The goal is to write a program that gets an image of the nightsky and predicts the hour in which the photo was taken. I implemented a well-known method using the ...
1 vote
2 answers
149 views

How to find how many degrees from the beginning to the end of the sunset?

According to what I what told here there is 0.5 degrees from the beginning the end of the sunset. Unfortunately I didn't understand two things: 1) How can I prove in the simplest way that there'...
12 votes
3 answers
3k views

How long do the phases of sunset take? [duplicate]

How long does it take from the moment the Sun star 'touches' the horizon, to the time it totally disappear? (I'm not talking about the radiation (rays), but just about the appearance of the star by ...
5 votes
1 answer
366 views

Was the Earth-Sun distance ever calculated based on the time difference between night and day?

If we define sunrise and sunset as the time when the center of the Sun goes over the horizon then day time is a little bit shorter than night time because from a single point one cannot see a complete ...
  • 181
2 votes
1 answer
121 views

Seeing a star near zenith around sunset

I'm recalling while taking a university astronomy class the professor brought a few of us up to the observatory, around sunset. He showed us a star near zenith with the telescope. After we left the ...
  • 1,599
5 votes
1 answer
4k views

Does the sky get darker faster during the winter?

When one lives away from the equator, say at around 37° latitude, does the sky get darker faster after the sun sets in the winter as compared to the summer? Why is this the case? I believe that if ...
  • 287