PHP Manual
Date/Time Functions
Returns an array with information about sunset/sunrise and twilight begin/end

date_sun_info

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.2, PHP 7, PHP 8)

date_sun_info — Returns an array with information about sunset/sunrise and twilight begin/end

Description

date_sun_info(int $timestamp, float $latitude, float $longitude): array

Parameters

timestamp: Unix timestamp.
latitude: Latitude in degrees.
longitude: Longitude in degrees.

Return Values

Returns array on success or false on failure. The structure of the array is detailed in the following list:

sunrise: The timestamp of the sunrise (zenith angle = 90°35').
sunset: The timestamp of the sunset (zenith angle = 90°35').
transit: The timestamp when the sun is at its zenith, i.e. has reached its topmost point.
civil_twilight_begin: The start of the civil dawn (zenith angle = 96°). It ends at sunrise.
civil_twilight_end: The end of the civil dusk (zenith angle = 96°). It starts at sunset.
nautical_twilight_begin: The start of the nautical dawn (zenith angle = 102°). It ends at civil_twilight_begin.
nautical_twilight_end: The end of the nautical dusk (zenith angle = 102°). It starts at civil_twilight_end.
astronomical_twilight_begin: The start of the astronomical dawn (zenith angle = 108°). It ends at nautical_twilight_begin.
astronomical_twilight_end: The end of the astronomical dusk (zenith angle = 108°). It starts at nautical_twilight_end.

The values of the array elements are either UNIX timestamps, false if the sun is below the respective zenith for the whole day, or true if the sun is above the respective zenith for the whole day.

Changelog

Version	Description
7.2.0	The calculation was fixed with regards to local midnight instead of local noon, which changes the results slightly.

Examples

Example #1 A date_sun_info() example


<?php
$sun_info = date_sun_info(strtotime("2006-12-12"), 31.7667, 35.2333);
foreach ($sun_info as $key => $val) {
    echo "$key: " . date("H:i:s", $val) . "\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

sunrise: 05:52:11
sunset: 15:41:21
transit: 10:46:46
civil_twilight_begin: 05:24:08
civil_twilight_end: 16:09:24
nautical_twilight_begin: 04:52:25
nautical_twilight_end: 16:41:06
astronomical_twilight_begin: 04:21:32
astronomical_twilight_end: 17:12:00

Example #2 Polar night


<?php
var_dump(date_sun_info(strtotime("2017-12-21"), 90, 0));
?>

The above example will output:

array(9) {
  ["sunrise"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["sunset"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["transit"]=>
  int(1513857490)
  ["civil_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["civil_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["nautical_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["nautical_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["astronomical_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["astronomical_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(false)
}

Example #3 Midnight sun


<?php
var_dump(date_sun_info(strtotime("2017-06-21"), 90, 0));
?>

The above example will output:

array(9) {
  ["sunrise"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["sunset"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["transit"]=>
  int(1498046510)
  ["civil_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["civil_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["nautical_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["nautical_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["astronomical_twilight_begin"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["astronomical_twilight_end"]=>
  bool(true)
}