Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for One Year: U.S. Cities and Towns

This form provides a way for you to obtain a table of the times of sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, or the beginning and end of twilight, for one year. This form is for U.S. cities and towns only.  For all other locations, in the U.S. or worldwide, specify the latitude and longitude using this form.

• Enter the year for which the table is desired.
• Select the table type (sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, etc.) from the pop-up list.
• Specify the location of interest.
• Click the "Compute Table" button at the end of the form to compute the table. The table will provide the data requested in local standard time on a 24-hour clock; for example, 1836 means 6:36 p.m., local standard time.
• Be sure to read the Notes section for an explanation of the items in the table.

Notes

The place name you enter above must be a city or town in the U.S. The place's location will be retrieved from a file with over 22,000 places listed. Either upper- or lower-case letters or a combination can be used. Spell out place name prefixes, as in "East Orange", "Fort Lauderdale", "Mount Vernon", etc. The only exception is "St.", which is entered as an abbreviation with a period, as in "St. Louis". You need only enter as many characters as will unambiguously identify the place.

How to Print the Table

The table is 134 characters wide, so to print it you must use landscape orientation and 8-point (smallest) type. Consult your browser's documentation for details on how to change the font/text size. An alternative scheme is to save the table to a file on your computer (for example, in Internet Explorer, click on File then Save As...), then use your favorite word processor or text editor to print it.

How to Import the Table into a Spreadsheet

Open your favorite text editor, then copy the numerical part of the table (i.e., do not copy the table headings) from your browser and paste it into the text editor. Save the data as a text file.

In Excel 2003, click Data on the menu bar, then Import External Data, then Import Data. Select your saved text file. Choose fixed width in the dialog box. [In Excel 2004 for Mac, the commands are Data -> Get External Data -> Import Text File]

In Excel 2007, click Data on the menu bar, then From Text. Select your saved text file. Choose fixed width in the dialog box.

Definitions

For information on the definitions of rise, set, and twilight, see Rise, Set, and Twilight Definitions in FAQ.

Time Zones

The times of the phenomena are presented in the standard time of the place requested, using the current time zone of the place. Standard time in time zones was introduced in the U.S. in 1883, but the time zone boundaries have evolved considerably since then, with places shifting from one zone to another. There is no attempt here to track such changes.

Daylight Time

Daylight time is not implemented in this program. When daylight time is in use, add one hour to the times listed in the table.

Legal Use of the Data in the Table

Please see Astronomical Data Used for Litigation if you are interested in using for legal purposes the data produced by this service.

Sunset photo taken from Nags Head, North Carolina, by George Kaplan.