when does the sun start to rise
The Sun is considered to start to rise at the moment of sunrise , which is defined as when the very top edge of the Sun’s disk first becomes visible over the horizon.
What “sunrise time” actually means
When you check a weather app or astronomy site and it says “sunrise: 7:12 am,” that time refers to:
- The instant the upper rim of the Sun first appears above an ideal, flat horizon.
- It already includes standard corrections for Earth’s atmosphere (refraction) and the Sun’s apparent size, so “sunrise” is not when the center of the Sun is on the horizon, but when the top edge peeks over.
So in everyday language, the Sun “starts to rise” at the listed sunrise time, not some minutes before or after, at least for a perfect sea-level horizon.
Why the clock time changes during the year
The clock time of sunrise shifts through the seasons rather than staying fixed.
- At many mid‑latitudes, sunrise tends to fall roughly between about 5–7 a.m. in summer and later (closer to 7–8 a.m.) in winter, depending on where you are.
- It gets earlier each day from late winter into spring, and latest a little after the winter solstice, then earliest a little before the summer solstice.
- These shifts happen because of Earth’s tilt and its slightly elliptical orbit , which change the Sun’s path across the sky and the length of the solar day.
A simple example: at one U.S. location, sunrise in late October might be around 7:23 a.m., then creep a few minutes later over the following days.
It also depends on where you live
Location matters as much as the date.
- Latitude: Closer to the equator, sunrise time changes less dramatically through the year; closer to the poles, it swings much more and can even vanish for part of winter or last all “night” in summer.
- Time zone and longitude: Being on the eastern or western edge of a time zone shifts sunrise earlier or later on the clock.
- Elevation and local horizon: Hills, mountains, or tall buildings can delay when you see the Sun, even though the official sunrise time assumes an unobstructed, sea‑level horizon.
Because of these factors, there is no single universal time when the Sun “starts to rise” each day; it is specific to your coordinates and date.
How to find the sunrise for your place and day
If you want the exact moment the Sun will start to rise where you are:
- Use an online sunrise/sunset calculator (for example, government or astronomy services that generate daily or yearly tables of sunrise times).
- Check a site like timeanddate‑style services that list “Sunrise Today” for many cities worldwide.
- Many weather apps embed the same astronomical data, so the “sunrise” time shown is the moment the upper limb appears over an ideal horizon, adjusted for your general location.
These tools let you plug in a city or coordinates and date to see when the Sun will start to rise on that specific day.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.