Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator Community
Questions, answers and tips from people who use the Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator. Sunrise, sunset, twilight, golden hour and moon phase for any place and date.
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This page shows only real posts from real people, so it starts empty. The guide below has the questions people most often have about the Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator. Pick one to start a thread, or write your own.
From the tool guide: common questions about Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator
The items below are not posts by community members. They come from the written guide for this tool and are here to get a conversation started. Use “Ask a follow-up” to open a thread about any of them.
How accurate are the times?
Sunrise and sunset are typically within about a minute; accuracy drops close to the poles.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upWhat is civil, nautical and astronomical twilight?
The sun is 6°, 12° and 18° below the horizon: civil is enough light to see outdoors, nautical is horizon still visible at sea, astronomical is fully dark sky.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upWhat is golden hour?
The period after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low and light is warm and soft — the favourite time for photographers.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upWhy does it say midnight sun or polar night?
Above the Arctic and Antarctic circles the sun can stay up or down for 24 hours around the solstices.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upDoes it show moonrise and moonset?
Not yet. It shows phase, illumination, age and the next new and full moon.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upIs my location shared?
Only if you press My location, and it is used just to calculate the times in your browser.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upWhat this tool does
Enter a city, your location or exact coordinates, pick a date, and see when the sun rises and sets, solar noon, the length of the day, and the three twilight periods — civil, nautical and astronomical — plus golden hour, the best time for warm, soft photography. A curve shows how high the sun climbs through the day. Near the poles the calculator tells you when there is midnight sun or polar night.
How to use it, step by step
- Search a city, use My location or type coordinates.
- Choose a date (today is preselected).
- Read the sun times, twilight and golden hour.
- Scroll to the moon phase and the next full and new moons.
Tips from the guide
- Golden hour is the first and last hour of usable sunlight, when the sun is below about 6°.
- Astronomical twilight ends when the sky is fully dark — best for stargazing.
- Time zones are set automatically from the city; edit them for other zones.
- Full moons wash out faint stars; plan deep-sky viewing around new moon.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting daylight-saving time when converting from UTC.
- Using coordinates with the wrong sign (west and south are negative).
- Expecting moonrise times, which this tool does not calculate.
Who uses it
- Photographers and filmmakers. Plan golden hour and blue hour shoots.
- Gardeners, farmers and campers. Know daylight hours and moon light.
- Astronomy fans and planners. Find dark skies, twilight and full moons.
How to ask a question people can answer
A good thread on the Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator saves everyone time. Start with a title that names the exact problem, such as the input you used, the result you expected and the result you got. A title like “Not working” is hard to answer, while a title with the specifics gets replies quickly.
- Say what you tried. List the steps you followed and any settings you changed, so replies do not repeat what you already did.
- Share a small example. A short sample input and the output you saw is worth more than a long description. Remove anything private first.
- Mention your setup. Your device, browser and whether you are on a phone or a computer can explain many odd results.
- One question per thread. Separate topics get clearer answers and are easier to find later with the search box above.
- Come back and reply. If a suggestion worked, say so and upvote it, and if you found the fix yourself, post it for the next person.
Community rules
Be kind, stay on topic and keep personal data out of your posts. Do not post adult, hateful or illegal content, advertising or repeated links. Every post is shown with its author’s username and date, and posts that break these rules can be hidden by moderators. This space is for help with the Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase Calculator and related tasks, and it is separate from the sitewide discussion forum where broader topics live.