where does the sun rise and set

The Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west, but the exact points on the horizon shift slightly every day through the year.

Basic idea

• On most days, the Sun rises roughly in the east and sets roughly in the west because Earth spins from west to east on its axis.

• What you see as sunrise and sunset is your local horizon “cutting” across the Sun as Earth rotates.

Equinoxes

• On the two equinoxes each year (around March 20–21 and September 22–23), the Sun rises almost exactly due east and sets almost exactly due west everywhere on Earth except near the poles.

• These days also have nearly equal lengths of day and night, which is why they are called equinoxes (“equal night”).

Summer and winter shifts

• In the Northern Hemisphere summer, the Sun rises north of east and sets north of west; in winter it rises south of east and sets south of west.

• In the Southern Hemisphere, this pattern is flipped: summer sunrises are south of east and sunsets south of west, with winter positions shifted toward the north.

Why directions change

• Earth’s axis is tilted by about 23.5 degrees, so the Sun’s daily path across the sky slides north and south over the year, changing where on the horizon it rises and sets.

• This shifting path is also what gives different seasons their longer or shorter daylight hours.

At extreme latitudes

• Near the poles, the Sun can circle around the horizon without truly rising or setting for days or months (midnight Sun in summer and polar night in winter).

• Between those extremes and the equator, the angle and duration of the Sun’s path vary smoothly with latitude.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.