Rancho Cordova, CA Sunrise and Sunset Times (2024)

FAQs

How to solve sunrise and sunset? ›

Sunrise/Sunset Calculations

Then the UTC time of sunrise (or sunset) in minutes is: sunrise = 720 – 4*(longitude + ha) – eqtime where longitude and hour angle are in degrees and the equation of time is in minutes.

Regardless of model, she concluded, sunrise and sunset times can't be reliably predicted to better than 2 minutes. Two minutes might sound inconsequential, but Wilson noted that, if GPS fails, sailors will use celestial navigation.

The sun is visible to us 2 minutes before the actual sunrise because of atmospheric refraction. When the sun is below the horizon the light travelling from rarer to denser medium bends and reaches our eyes creating an impression that it is above the horizon.

The changing position of the Sun in the sky over the course of a day is mainly an effect of the Earth's rotation on its axis, which is quite uniform to a small fraction of a second. However, where the Sun appears in the sky at any given time is also affected by the position of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun.

When you take into account those few extra minutes and consider the technical definitions, the sunrise and sunset will be skewed on the day of the equinox. A few days later, our days continue to get shorter heading into winter. The sunrise and sunset times meet up and are exactly 12 hours apart.

So mean time is indicated by the mean Sun, and apparent solar time is indicated by the actual Sun and is, for example, measured by sundials. The precise definition of the Equation of Time is E = GHA (apparent Sun) - GHA (mean Sun) (1) where GHA is the Greenwich hour angle.

Civil Twilight: Begins approximately 30 to 40 minutes before sunrise. This is when the sky starts to lighten up, and the highest clouds catch the first pink, orange, and red hues. It's also when features on the ground start to become visible.

A cloudless gap at the horizon will generally produce a better sunrise or sunset, as this allows better passage of light since there are no (or few) low clouds. Thin, broken clouds produce a wider array of textures and colours as the light passes through, especially when there is a variety of cloud formations.

Lawmakers have enshrined the concept of civil twilight. Such statutes typically use a fixed period after sunset or before sunrise (most commonly 20–30 minutes), rather than how many degrees the Sun is below the horizon.

Orbit and Rotation

But when Mercury is moving fastest in its elliptical orbit around the Sun (and it is closest to the Sun), each rotation is not accompanied by sunrise and sunset like it is on most other planets. The morning Sun appears to rise briefly, set, and rise again from some parts of the planet's surface.

How long is the Sun visible after sunset? ›

The correct answer is 2. The sun is visible to us about 2 minutes before the actual sunrise and about 2 minutes after the actual sunset.

Located just to the west of the International Date Line, the Republic of Kiribati is one of the first places on earth to see the first rays of the rising sun. This is nearest populated region west of the date line, and its time zone is 14 hours ahead of UTC—the farthest forward time zone in the world.

“The Earth [also] spins closer to the sun in winter and the sun sets at a sharper angle, making sunset colors last a bit longer than in summer months,” said Noyes. That means a winter sunset lingers on the horizon, giving us more time to enjoy it.

Variables That Affect Sunrise and Sunset Times Where You Live. That's because sunrise and sunset times depend on a number of variables, including longitude, latitude, altitude, and location in relationship to your specific Time Zone.

The timekeeper for the United States, the Naval Observatory, defines sunrise and sunset as the moments when the center of the Sun is physically 50 minutes of arc below the horizon, which is less than the width of your finger held at arm's length.