Sunrise and Sunset Times Today: How to Find Accurate Times for Any Location

What Time Is Sunrise Today?

Sunrise time today depends entirely on where you are in the world. On March 29, 2026, sunrise ranges from before 5:30 AM in cities near the equator to after 7:00 AM at higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. There is no single global answer — your location (latitude and longitude) and the date together determine the exact moment the sun crosses your horizon.

To find today's precise sunrise and sunset time for your city, use the sunrise and sunset calculator — it uses your location's coordinates and today's date to compute times accurate to the minute.

Today's Sunrise Times for Major Cities (March 29, 2026)

Here's a snapshot of sunrise and sunset times around the world today. These illustrate how dramatically location affects your daily sun schedule:

Notice that all cities today have roughly 12 hours of daylight — we're just three days past the March equinox (March 20, 2026), when day and night are approximately equal everywhere on Earth. By June, cities at high northern latitudes like Reykjavik will have 20+ hours of daylight, while cities in the Southern Hemisphere will have dropped to under 10 hours.

Why Does Sunrise Time Change Every Day?

Earth's axial tilt (23.5°) means that as Earth orbits the sun through the year, the angle of sunlight changes relative to any point on the surface. This produces three effects you notice in your sunrise and sunset times:

1. Seasonal shift: In summer (Northern Hemisphere), the sun rises earlier and sets later. In winter, it rises later and sets earlier. The difference can be dramatic — at 55°N latitude (e.g., Edinburgh), the earliest summer sunrise is before 4:30 AM and the latest winter sunrise is after 8:45 AM.
2. Daily drift: Even during steady seasons, sunrise shifts by roughly 1–3 minutes per day. In spring, sunrise gets earlier by about 2 minutes per day; in autumn, it gets later by about 2 minutes per day.
3. The equation of time: Earth's orbit is not perfectly circular — it's slightly elliptical. This causes the sun to appear to move at slightly different speeds through the year, which shifts solar noon (and therefore sunrise/sunset) by up to 16 minutes from what a simple calculation would predict. This is why, even near the solstices when day length is barely changing, sunrise and sunset times can still drift noticeably.

How to Find Sunrise Time Tomorrow

Tomorrow's sunrise will be approximately 1–3 minutes earlier than today's (we're in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, so days are lengthening quickly right now). The precise time for your location is available at our sun calculator — just select tomorrow's date.

For cities in the Southern Hemisphere, the reverse is happening: autumn is approaching, so sunrise is getting slightly later each day. Sydney's sunrise tomorrow will be a minute or two later than today's.

What Affects Sunrise Time at Your Location?

Four main factors determine today's sunrise time where you are:

• Latitude: The most powerful factor. Cities near the equator (0°) always have sunrise between about 5:45–6:30 AM with minimal seasonal variation. Cities near the Arctic Circle (66.5°N) swing between midnight sun in summer (no sunset at all) to polar night in winter (no sunrise). At 40°N latitude, sunrise varies from about 5:30 AM (June) to 7:20 AM (December).
• Longitude within your time zone: Time zones cover 15° of longitude (one hour). If you're at the eastern edge of your time zone, your legal sunrise time will be earlier than if you're at the western edge — because the sun physically rises earlier for eastern positions, but both locations use the same clock time. Someone in western Spain uses the same time zone as someone in eastern Poland, even though the sun rises two hours earlier for the Pole by solar reckoning.
• Day of year: As described above, seasonal variation is the biggest driver of change across the calendar.
• Elevation: This has a small effect — at higher elevations, the horizon is effectively lower, so the sun "rises" a few minutes earlier than at sea level at the same latitude. For most purposes this is negligible, but on mountaintops it can be meaningful.

Sunrise and Sunset in Different Languages

If you're searching for today's sunrise time in another language, here's what you're looking for — and links to our city pages:

• Portuguese: nascer do sol hoje / pôr do sol hoje — for Lisbon, Porto, or any Brazilian city, see our Portugal sun times or Brazil sun times
• Spanish: amanecer de hoy / atardecer de hoy — see sun times for Spain or any Latin American country in our sun calculator
• French: lever du soleil aujourd'hui / coucher du soleil aujourd'hui — see our France sun times
• German: Sonnenaufgang heute / Sonnenuntergang heute — see Germany sun times
• Japanese: 今日の日の出 / 今日の日の入り — see Japan sun times

Understanding Twilight: Dawn, Dusk, and the Periods Around Sunrise

Sunrise is the moment the upper edge of the sun crosses the horizon — but useful daylight begins earlier (dawn) and ends later (dusk). There are three official twilight phases you'll see on detailed sun calculators:

• Civil twilight: Sun is 0°–6° below the horizon. Enough light for most outdoor activities without artificial lighting. Begins at civil dawn (before sunrise) and ends at civil dusk (after sunset).
• Nautical twilight: Sun is 6°–12° below the horizon. Historically when navigators could see the horizon and key stars simultaneously for celestial navigation. Dimmer — most people would need artificial light.
• Astronomical twilight: Sun is 12°–18° below the horizon. Sky is still slightly lighter than true night — relevant for astronomers trying to observe faint objects. True darkness begins when astronomical twilight ends.

If you want to know what time it gets light enough to see clearly, look at civil dawn — typically 20–30 minutes before official sunrise at mid-latitudes.

Solar Noon: The Highest Point of the Day

Halfway between sunrise and sunset is solar noon — the moment the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. This is rarely at 12:00 PM on the clock, because time zones don't perfectly align with the sun's position. In Lisbon today, solar noon is around 1:17 PM local time (WEST). In western China, which uses Beijing Time (UTC+8) despite being geographically much further west, solar noon can be at 3:00 PM or later.

Solar noon is useful for photographers (the "harsh light" period to avoid) and for solar panel owners (peak generation time).

Frequently Asked Questions

What time is sunrise today?

Sunrise time today depends on your location. Use our sunrise and sunset calculator, select your city, and you'll see today's exact sunrise time in your local time zone. On March 29, 2026, most mid-latitude cities in the Northern Hemisphere have sunrise between 6:00–7:30 AM.

What time is sunset today?

Sunset today also varies by location. Near the spring equinox (March 20), most locations have roughly 12 hours of daylight, so sunset falls roughly 12 hours after sunrise. For example, if sunrise is at 7:00 AM, sunset is around 7:15–7:30 PM. Check our sun calculator for your exact sunset time today.

What time is sunrise tomorrow?

In the Northern Hemisphere in late March, sunrise tomorrow will be approximately 1–2 minutes earlier than today as days lengthen toward the summer solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere, tomorrow's sunrise will be slightly later as days shorten toward the winter solstice.

Why does sunrise time change every day?

Sunrise changes daily because Earth's axial tilt causes the sun's angle relative to any location on the surface to shift continuously as we orbit the sun. The rate of change is fastest near the equinoxes (about 2–3 minutes per day) and slowest near the solstices (nearly zero minutes per day near June 21 or December 21).

What time does the sun come up in my location?

To find sunrise for your specific location, use a sunrise calculator that takes your latitude and longitude into account. Our sun time tool covers 100+ cities worldwide. If your city isn't listed, enter the nearest major city — times will be close for locations within the same region.

What time is sunrise and sunset in Nigeria / Vietnam / London / Chicago?

Each location has a dedicated sun times page. For Nigeria (Lagos), sunrise today is around 6:32 AM WAT. For Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), sunrise is around 5:55 AM ICT. For London, about 6:25 AM GMT/BST. For Chicago, around 6:50 AM CDT. Check the sun calculator for precise daily times.

What is the difference between sunrise, dawn, and daybreak?

Dawn (or daybreak) refers to the beginning of civil twilight — the point at which the sky begins to brighten noticeably before sunrise. Sunrise is the specific moment the top of the sun appears above the horizon. Dawn typically precedes sunrise by 20–30 minutes at mid-latitudes. "Daybreak," "first light," and "dawn" are often used interchangeably to describe this pre-sunrise brightening.

Sources

• Meeus, Jean (1998). Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd ed. Willmann-Bell.
• US Naval Observatory: Solar Calculations
• NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory: Solar Calculator