The apparent westward revolution of Sun around the earth after rising out of the horizon is due to the Earth's eastward rotation, a counter-clockwise revolution when viewed from above the North Pole. This illusion is so convincing that most cultures had mythologies and religions built around the geocentric model. This same effect can be seen with near-polar satellites as well.

As sunrise and sunset are calculated from the leading and trailing edges of the Sun, and not the center; this slightly increases the duration of "day" relative to "night". The sunrise equation, however, is based on the center of the sun.

The timing of sunrise varies with the time of year and the latitude of the location from which it is viewed. The precise time of day also varies in local time within a given time zone, determined by each location's precise longitude. Changes in timing of sunrise are driven by the axial tilt of Earth and the planet's movement in its annual orbit around the sun. Some apparent anomalies exist however. In the Northern Hemisphere, the latest sunrise does not occur on the winter solstice around December 21, but rather in early January. Likewise, the earliest sunrise does not fall on the summer solstice around June 21, but occurs earlier in June in the Northern Hemisphere. As one travels farther from the equator, the times of sunrise and sunset change throughout the year. Even on the equator, sunrise and sunset shift several minutes back and forth through the year, along with solar noon. These effects are plotted using an analemma.

Due to Earth's axial tilt, whenever and wherever sunrise occurs, it is always in the northeast quadrant from the March equinox to the September equinox and in the southeast quadrant from the September equinox to the March equinox. Sunrises occur precisely due east on the March and September equinoxes for all viewers on Earth. The sunrise and sunset times for a 12 hr day and 12 hr night do not fall on the "equinox" (equal night), since the timing of sunrises and sunsets, and hence, the lengths of day and night vary with each viewer's particular latitude.

Colors

Sometimes just before sunrise or after sunset a green flash can be seen.

Gallery

Image:Sunrise over trees.jpg|A typical Suburban Sunrise

See also

• Dawn
• Day
• Day length
• Daybreak

• Noon
• Sunrise equation
• Sunset
• Twilight

External links

• Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Calculation , utilizing Google Maps.
• Rise/Set Calulator. Find sun position for any time/location.
• Sunrise and sunset calculator
• Customized Sunset, Sunrise Calculator calendar
• Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for one Year
• US Navy Sunrise and Sunset calculator
• Full physical explanation of sky color, in simple terms
• An Excel workbook with VBA functions for sunrise, sunset, solar noon, twilight (dawn and dusk), and solar position (azimuth and elevation); by Greg Pelletier, translated from NOAA's online calculators for solar position and sunrise/sunset
• sun.exnatura.org Online sunrise/-set calendar with interactive location finder
• Formulas to calculate sunrise and sunset
• Provides sunrise/sunset times for location specified by Google Maps
• Daily almanac including Sun rise/set/twillight for every location on Earth
• Monthly calendar with Sun/Moon rise/set times for every location on Earth