Sun position calculator: altitude, azimuth and shadows for any moment
This sun position calculator tells you exactly where the Sun is — its altitude above the horizon and its azimuth around the compass — for any place, date and time, and keeps following the clock if you ask it to. It also turns that angle into practical numbers: the length of the shadow cast by an object of any height, the time of solar noon and the day’s maximum altitude, the golden and blue hours photographers wait for, and a chart of the Sun’s arc across the whole day.
Architects and solar-panel installers use the altitude and azimuth to check shading and tilt, photographers and film crews plan light, teachers demonstrate the seasons, and sundial makers verify their gnomons. The position comes from the Meeus/NOAA solar algorithm with atmospheric refraction added, computed in your browser without any lookups — the same method as the sunrise and sunset calculator, extended to every minute of the day.
How to use the Sun Position Calculator
- Pick a City or enter Latitude and Longitude (or press Use my location), and check the Time zone.
- Set the Date and Time, press Now, or tick Follow the clock to update automatically every 30 seconds.
- Enter the Object height to get the shadow length; the ratio of shadow to height is shown alongside.
- Read altitude and azimuth in the panel, solar noon, the maximum altitude and the daylight duration in the tiles, and the golden-hour, blue-hour and twilight times in the list.
- Use the day-arc chart to see the whole path, download it as SVG or PNG, and the hour-by-hour table for planning.
Sun Position Calculator features
Altitude and azimuth to 0.01°
Meeus’ solar position (the NOAA algorithm) with the Saemundsson refraction correction, so a reading of 0.0° means the Sun really looks like it is on the horizon.
Shadow calculator
Shadow = height ÷ tan(altitude), for a person, a pole, a building or a tree, with the multiple of the object’s height.
Solar noon and maximum altitude
The true transit time, which can differ from 12:00 by an hour or more, and how high the Sun gets, with whether it stands due south or due north.
Golden hour, blue hour, twilight
Morning and evening golden hour (−4° to +6°), blue hour (−6° to −4°), nautical twilight and astronomical darkness, all as clock times in your zone.
Day-arc chart
Altitude plotted against local time with the day/night split, solar noon and a marker for the chosen moment; export as SVG or PNG.
Hourly table
Altitude, azimuth, direction, shadow length and light phase for every hour.
Reading altitude and azimuth
Altitude (also called elevation) is the angle of the Sun above the horizon: 0° at sunrise and sunset, 90° directly overhead. Azimuth is its compass direction measured clockwise from north: 90° is due east, 180° due south, 270° due west. The Sun is due south at solar noon everywhere north of the Tropic of Cancer; between the tropics it can pass north or south of the zenith depending on the date, and in Mumbai in late June it is due north at noon, 85° up.
At solar noon the altitude equals 90° − |latitude − declination|. On the equinoxes the declination is zero, so the noon Sun stands at 90° minus your latitude — 38.5° in London, 71° in Mumbai, 90° on the equator — the check this calculator’s self-test performs. At the solstices the declination is ±23.44°, which gives the 47° annual swing in noon altitude that drives the seasons.
Shadow length and the sun angle
A vertical object of height h casts a shadow of length h / tan(altitude) on level ground. At 45° the shadow equals the height; at 26.6° it is twice as long; at 10° it stretches to 5.7 times. The hourly table shows how quickly shadows lengthen in the hours after noon — useful for siting a patio, checking whether a new building will shade a garden, or placing a solar panel clear of a chimney. The sidereal time calculator gives the same hour-angle maths for stars.
| Sun altitude | Shadow ÷ height | Shadow of a 1.8 m person | Typical light |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5° | 11.4 | 20.6 m | deep golden hour, long warm shadows |
| 10° | 5.67 | 10.2 m | low, directional light |
| 26.6° | 2.00 | 3.6 m | mid-morning / mid-afternoon |
| 45° | 1.00 | 1.8 m | strong light, moderate shadows |
| 60° | 0.58 | 1.0 m | summer midday in temperate zones |
| 85° | 0.09 | 0.16 m | tropical noon, almost no shadow |
Golden hour and blue hour
Photographers define the golden hour as the period when the Sun is low — here from 6° above the horizon down to 4° below it, covering sunset itself and the first warm afterglow — and the blue hour as the few minutes after that, with the Sun 4° to 6° below the horizon, when the sky turns a deep saturated blue while there is still enough light for a photograph. Both are much longer at high latitudes, where the Sun crosses those angles slowly, and very short in the tropics. The list under the chart gives both for the chosen date, together with the end of nautical twilight and the start of true astronomical darkness used by the star chart and the meteor shower calendar.
Sun Position Calculator FAQ
Where is the sun right now?
Press Now (or tick Follow the clock). The panel shows the current altitude and azimuth for the coordinates in the boxes; choose your city or use your location first.
Why is solar noon not at 12:00?
Clock noon is fixed across a whole time zone, while the Sun is highest at a different moment for every longitude. Daylight saving adds an hour, and the equation of time adds up to ±16 minutes through the year. Mumbai’s solar noon is around 12:40 IST; Madrid’s in summer is near 14:15.
How do I calculate a shadow length?
Divide the object’s height by the tangent of the Sun’s altitude. The calculator does this for the height you enter and lists the result for every hour of the day.
Is azimuth measured from north or south?
From north, clockwise, as in navigation and most solar software: east is 90°, south 180°, west 270°. Some older solar references measure from south; add 180° to compare.
Does the calculator include refraction?
Yes. The altitude shown is the apparent altitude including atmospheric refraction, which lifts the Sun by about 0.5° at the horizon and by only 0.02° at 45°.
How accurate is the sun position calculator?
About 0.01° in altitude and azimuth, and within a minute or so for solar noon and the golden-hour times; local horizon and weather dominate any remaining difference.