What Time Is Dawn Today?

First light: civil dawn time for your location, plus nautical and astronomical dawn.

Finding your city…

Civil dawn

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Calculating for your time zone…

Location Date

Enter latitude / longitude

Latitude Longitude Time zone

All sun times for this day

What is dawn?

Dawn is the start of morning twilight. Unless stated otherwise it means civil dawn: the moment the Sun's centre is 6° below the horizon, when there is enough light to see clearly outdoors. Earlier stages are nautical dawn (12°) and astronomical dawn (18°), when the first faint glow appears.

Phase	Sun below horizon	What you see
Civil twilight	0° to 6°	Enough light to work outdoors; brightest planets appear
Nautical twilight	6° to 12°	Horizon still visible at sea; bright stars visible
Astronomical twilight	12° to 18°	Sky looks dark to most people; faint glow remains
Night	more than 18°	No sunlight scattered in the sky

How it's calculated

The tool computes the Sun's declination and the hour angle at which it reaches −6° for your latitude and longitude, then converts to local time. Times are calculated in your browser from the Sun's position (the same method as NOAA-style solar calculators). They assume a flat horizon at sea level, so mountains, buildings and altitude can shift what you actually see by a few minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How long before sunrise is dawn?

At mid-latitudes civil dawn is usually 25–40 minutes before sunrise. It is shorter near the equator (about 20–25 minutes) and longer near the poles.

Is dawn the same as sunrise?

No. Dawn is when it starts getting light; sunrise is when the Sun itself appears on the horizon.

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