Calculate sunrise or sunset for a time and place
sunrise(date, lon, lat, elev = -0.268, tz = "UTC", force_tz = FALSE)
sunset(date, lon, lat, elev = -0.268, tz = "UTC", force_tz = FALSE)Date inheriting from class POSIXt or a string
interpretable by as.Date.
Longitude in decimal degrees.
Latitude in decimal degrees.
Sun elevation in degrees.
output time zone. Ignored if date has an associated time zone already
whether to convert output to timezone tz. Default FALSE.
The moment of sunrise or sunset for the date set by dateand time zone as specified
(by date and tz) or in UTC if not specified.
The day for which sunrise and sunset are calculated is given by the input date. Sunrise and sunset are calculated relative to the moment of solar noon for that date, i.e. the first sunrise before the moment of solar noon, and the first sunset after the moment of solar noon. Therefore, depending on the timezone provided, it is possible that the nearest sunrise prior to solar noon occurs a day earlier than the input date. Similarly, sunset may occur a day later than the input date. See examples for details.
The angular diameter of the sun is about 0.536 degrees, therefore the moment of sunrise/sunset corresponds to half that elevation at -0.268 degrees.
This is a convenience function mapping to crepuscule.
Approximate astronomical formula are used, therefore the moment of sunrise / sunset may be off by a few minutes
If force_tz is TRUE, the output is converted to the timezone
set by tz
# sunrise in the Netherlands
sunrise("2016-01-01", 5, 53)
#> [1] "2016-01-01 07:58:17 UTC"
# sunset in the Netherlands
sunset("2016-01-01", 5, 53)
#> [1] "2016-01-01 15:28:31 UTC"
# civil twilight in Ithaca, NY
sunrise("2016-01-01", -76.5, 42.4, elev = -6)
#> [1] "2016-01-01 12:03:29 UTC"
# next sunset in South Dakota, USA
sunset("2016-11-15", -98, 45)
#> [1] "2016-11-15 22:58:56 UTC"
# Beware that some days have two sunsets, or
# two sunrises! E.g. on 5 Oct (local timezone) at
# this location sunset is actually on the 6 Oct
# in UTC time zone, i.e. the next day
sunset("2016-10-5", -98, 45)
#> [1] "2016-10-06 00:00:46 UTC"
# One day later, sunset is again on 6 Oct:
sunset("2016-10-6", -98, 45)
#> [1] "2016-10-06 23:58:56 UTC"
# working in local time zones typically avoids such ambiguities:
sunset(lubridate::as_datetime("2016-06-05",tz="America/Chicago"), -98, 45)
#> [1] "2016-06-05 21:11:19 CDT"
sunset(lubridate::as_datetime("2016-06-06",tz="America/Chicago"), -98, 45)
#> [1] "2016-06-06 21:12:00 CDT"
# use force_tz to force output to a specific time zone, by default UTC:
sunset(lubridate::as_datetime("2016-06-05",tz="America/Chicago"), -98, 45, force_tz=TRUE)
#> [1] "2016-06-06 02:11:19 UTC"
sunset(lubridate::as_datetime("2016-06-06",tz="America/Chicago"), -98, 45, force_tz=TRUE)
#> [1] "2016-06-07 02:12:00 UTC"
# Also beware of jumps in sunrise and sunset date with longitude:
sunrise("2016-11-01", 100, 45)
#> [1] "2016-11-01 00:01:50 UTC"
sunrise("2016-11-01", 102, 45)
#> [1] "2016-10-31 23:53:50 UTC"