🌅 Golden Hour & Blue Hour Calculator
Enter a date and location to get the morning and evening golden hour and blue hour windows, plus civil, nautical and astronomical twilight.
Morning — golden hour
09:20 – 10:20
Blue hour 09:08 – 09:20 · sunrise 09:40
Evening — golden hour
23:45 – 00:44
Sunset 00:25 · blue hour 00:44 – 00:57
| Twilight | Dawn | Dusk |
|---|---|---|
| Civil (−6°) | 09:08 | 00:57 |
| Nautical (−12°) | 08:28 | 01:37 |
| Astronomical (−18°) | 07:42 | 02:23 |
Times are local (24-hour), computed with the NOAA solar-position algorithm. Golden hour is when the sun sits between about −4° and +6° — warm, soft, directional light; blue hour is the −6° to −4° window of cool twilight. A dash means the sun never reaches that elevation that day (e.g. no true night in high-latitude summer). Enter east longitude as positive and your UTC offset (including DST). 🔒 In your browser.
How the golden hour & blue hour calculator works
The quality of daylight depends on how high the sun sits. The tool computes the sun's elevation through the day with the NOAA solar-position algorithm and reads off the key windows: golden hour, when the sun is roughly between −4° and +6° and the light is warm and soft; blue hour, the −6° to −4° twilight; and the civil (−6°), nautical (−12°) and astronomical (−18°) twilight boundaries for dawn and dusk.
Times are local and depend on your latitude, longitude and UTC offset (remember daylight saving). Golden hour is longer near the poles and near the solstices, and in high-latitude summer some twilights never end — a dash means the sun never drops to that elevation that day. The exact golden-hour elevation limits vary slightly between sources; these use the common −4° to +6° convention.
Frequently asked questions
What is golden hour?
The period after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low (about −4° to +6° elevation), giving warm, soft, directional light that photographers prize. It's not exactly an hour — its length depends on your latitude and the season.
What is blue hour?
The twilight window when the sun is between about −6° and −4° below the horizon, before sunrise and after sunset, when the sky takes on a deep, even blue. It's shorter than golden hour and great for cityscapes and long exposures.
What is the difference between civil, nautical and astronomical twilight?
They mark how far the sun is below the horizon: civil twilight to −6° (enough light for most outdoor activity), nautical to −12° (the horizon is still visible at sea), and astronomical to −18° (the sky is fully dark for faint-object observing).
Why does golden hour last longer in some places?
Because the sun rises and sets at a shallower angle at high latitudes and near the solstices, so it takes longer to cross the golden-hour elevation band. Near the equator the sun drops steeply and golden hour is brief.
Why do some twilight times show a dash?
Because the sun never reaches that elevation on that date at that latitude — for example, in high-latitude summer the sun may never sink to −18°, so there is no astronomical night and the astronomical-twilight times don't exist.
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From the blog
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Golden Hour and Blue Hour: The Sun Angles That Make the Best Light
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