Sun is a photographer's dashboard for light. It shows sunrise, sunset, the full twilight ladder, golden & blue hour, where the sun sits in the sky right now (or at any time you choose), how long shadows fall, and the local circumstances of any upcoming solar eclipse — for anywhere on Earth. Tap the ? button again to exit help mode. All times are shown for the selected location's timezone, displayed in the footer, in 24-hour format.
Sun & Twilight
The twilight ladder runs from darkest to brightest and back. Astronomical twilight (sun 18° below the horizon) is the first hint of light; nautical twilight (12° below) brings a visible horizon; civil twilight (6° below, also called the blue hour's edge) is bright enough to work without artificial light. Sunrise and sunset are when the sun's upper edge meets the horizon, and culmination (solar noon) is its highest point of the day.
Daylight is the span from sunrise to sunset. Near the poles some events don't happen on a given day — those are shown as a dash.
Sun Position
Altitude is the sun's angle above the horizon (0° at the horizon, 90° straight overhead). Azimuth is the compass direction to the sun, measured clockwise from north. The compass shows the sun's direction (gold) and the direction shadows fall (grey) — exactly opposite the sun.
Shadow length is given as a multiple of an object's height, plus an absolute length for the height you set. Shadows stretch toward infinity as the sun nears the horizon, so very long shadows are capped in the display. Use the date & time button (📅) to see the sun's position at any moment.
Sun Path
This chart traces the sun's altitude across the whole day — climbing to its peak at solar noon and dipping below the horizon at night. The horizon is the solid line; the shaded bands below it are civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight. The gold line marks the current moment, or the time you've selected. Hover or tap anywhere to read the sun's altitude at that time.
Golden & Blue Hour
The golden hour — the sun low and warm, roughly between the horizon and 6° altitude — gives soft, directional light and long shadows. The blue hour, just before sunrise and after sunset (sun about 4–6° below the horizon), bathes everything in cool, even light. Both windows are listed for morning and evening.
Next Solar Eclipse
When the moon passes in front of the sun as seen from your location, this card shows the eclipse type — partial, annular, or total — and how much of the sun is covered at maximum. The contacts are the key moments: first contact (the moon first touches the sun), second & third contact (start and end of totality or annularity), maximum eclipse, and fourth contact (the moon leaves the sun). For each, the sun's time, altitude, and compass direction are listed so you can plan the shot. Partial eclipses have only first contact, maximum, and fourth contact.
Choosing a Location
There are three ways to set your location:
?lat=42.36&lng=-71.06. Add
date=2026-08-12 and
time=18:30:00 to view a specific moment.
Your last location is saved automatically in a cookie, so the next time you visit you'll return to the same place. City search and coordinates are provided by the keyless Open-Meteo Geocoding API.
Add to Home Screen
Sun works great as a home-screen app. In Safari, tap Share then Add to Home Screen. On Android, tap the browser menu and choose Add to Home screen. You'll get a full-screen experience with its own sun icon.