Coordinate model
Anchorage is computed at 61.22°N, 149.90°W in America/Anchorage. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.
Daylight curve
Daylight in Anchorage, 2026
61.22°N · 149.90°W. Each vertical bar is one day of the year — bar height shows total daylight minutes.
Daylight values are generated from the city coordinates and solar-position math during the page revalidation window.
Longest day
19.4h
2026-06-18
Shortest day
5.5h
2026-12-19
Average
12.4h
Δ extreme
6h
12h
18h
24h
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Today's solar window
Sun and twilight in Anchorage
Sunrise
8:38 AM
Solar noon
12:43 PM
Sunset
4:47 PM
Day length
8h 9m
Civil twilight (-6°)
7:50 AM to 5:36 PM
Nautical twilight (-12°)
6:58 AM to 6:28 PM
Astronomical twilight (-18°)
6:07 AM to 7:18 PM
Golden hour3h 31m total
8:08 AM to 9:53 AM · 3:32 PM to 5:17 PM
Blue hour36m total
7:50 AM to 8:08 AM · 5:17 PM to 5:36 PM
Seasonal checkpoints
Solstice and equinox anchors
March equinox
Mar 20
12h 13m
June solstice
Jun 21
19h 22m
September equinox
Sep 22
12h 17m
December solstice
Dec 21
5h 27m
Full-year edge cases: 0 polar-day entries and 0 polar-night entries in the 2026 curve.
City solar dossier
Anchorage daylight facts that are not generic
These rows bind the page to Anchorage's coordinates, local timezone, annual daylight spread, twilight availability, and peer-city curve rather than a reusable sunrise template.
Annual daylight spread
13h 55m between Dec 19 (5h 27m) and Jun 18 (19h 22m).
Local-date snapshot
Today resolves to sunrise 8:38 AM, solar noon 12:43 PM, and sunset 4:47 PM.
Photographer signal
golden hour today 3h 31m; blue hour today 36m; longest golden-hour day Dec 8 — 6h 36m
Darkness and white-night risk
236 days include astronomical darkness; 27 civil white-night days and 129 astronomical white-night days are modeled in 2026.
Best comparison anchors
Stockholm (12h 32m swing); Reykjavík (17h 2m swing); Moscow (10h 33m swing); Ushuaia (10h 8m swing); Berlin (9h 11m swing)
Solar evidence pack
Why this Anchorage sun page is retained
This audit ties the page to a retained city route, exact coordinates, local timezone, a full-year daylight curve, twilight thresholds, and peer-city comparisons.
12/12checks
Retained city route
pass/sun/anchorage/ resolves to Anchorage, United States; the route is generated only from the retained SUN_CITIES list.
Coordinate precision
pass61.22°N, 149.90°W; latitude band high-mid latitude band; Northern Hemisphere.
Local timezone
passAmerica/Anchorage is used to anchor today's local sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight windows.
Full-year daylight curve
pass365 daily daylight rows were computed for 2026; expected 365.
Annual extremes
passLongest Jun 18 (19h 22m), shortest Dec 19 (5h 27m), average 12h 25m.
Seasonal momentum
passFastest gain Jan 29 (+6m from the previous day); fastest loss Jul 30 (-6m from the previous day); closest 12-hour day Sep 25 at 12h (no change from 12h).
Local-day solar snapshot
passToday: sunrise 8:38 AM, solar noon 12:43 PM, sunset 4:47 PM.
Twilight ladder
passGolden Dec 8 — 6h 36m; blue Jun 7 — 2h 58m; civil Jun 7 — 4h 52m; astronomical night Dec 21 — 12h 41m.
Darkness and white-night model
pass236 days with astronomical darkness; 27 civil white-night days; 129 astronomical white-night days.
Seasonal checkpoints
passMarch equinox: 12h 13m; June solstice: 19h 22m; September equinox: 12h 17m; December solstice: 5h 27m
Peer curve comparison
passStockholm (12h 32m); Reykjavík (17h 2m); Moscow (10h 33m); Ushuaia (10h 8m); Berlin (9h 11m)
Method and citation boundary
passSolar thresholds are NOAA-style; timezone rules use IANA. The page is a planning model, not a legal almanac or obstruction-aware site survey.
Practical read
How to use this solar profile
Photography
3h 31m golden hour today
Best annual golden-hour day: Dec 8 — 6h 36m. Blue-hour total today: 36m.
Astronomy
236 true-darkness days
Longest astronomical-night entry: Dec 21 — 12h 41m. Use local cloud cover and moon phase separately.
Outdoor routine
8h 9m daylight today
Sunrise 8:38 AM and sunset 4:47 PM are the practical day-boundaries for school runs, work windows, and outdoor activity.
Seasonal planning
13h 55m annual swing
June average 19h 12m; December average 5h 38m. This is the year-scale gap to check before travel or outdoor scheduling.
Travel comparison
10 retained peer curves
Anchorage's closest daylight-pattern peers here include Stockholm (12h 32m annual swing), Reykjavík (17h 2m annual swing), Moscow (10h 33m annual swing), Ushuaia (10h 8m annual swing).
Civil-light risk
27 civil white-night days
Civil twilight uses -6°. White-night counts matter because dawn/dusk phases stop behaving like ordinary morning/evening windows.
Calculation boundaries
What this model can and cannot promise
What this model includes
Latitude, longitude, solar elevation thresholds, atmospheric-refraction sunrise/sunset convention, America/Anchorage local formatting, and a 365-day sweep for 2026.
What this model excludes
Mountains, skyline obstruction, sea horizon differences, weather, smoke, cloud cover, local legal definitions, aviation rules, and observer elevation.
When to verify elsewhere
Use official observatory, aviation, maritime, legal, or local almanac sources for high-stakes operations; this page is designed for planning, comparison, and general reference.
Why city pages differ
Two cities in America/Anchorage can still have different daylight and twilight curves because the coordinate pair, especially latitude, drives the result.
Seasonal daylight fingerprint
How daylight changes through 2026
These values are derived from the same 365-day curve: threshold counts, fastest day-to-day change, the closest 12-hour balance, and monthly daylight averages.
14h+ daylight days
149
Days at or above fourteen hours of sun.
10h-or-less days
131
Short-day entries at ten hours or below.
Fastest gain
Jan 29 (+6m from the previous day)
Fastest loss
Jul 30 (-6m from the previous day)
Closest 12-hour balance
Sep 25 at 12h (no change from 12h)
Brightest month
June average 19h 12m
Shortest month
December average 5h 38m
Year-round photographer planning
Golden & blue hour across 2026
Combined morning + evening windows, computed for every UTC day of the year.
- Longest golden hour day
- Dec 8 — 6h 36m
- Shortest non-zero golden hour day
- Sep 20 — 2h 47m
- Year-round daily average
- 3h 39m
- Longest blue hour day
- Jun 7 — 2h 58m
- Blue-hour daily average
- 47m
- Longest civil twilight
- Jun 7 — 4h 52m
- Civil twilight average
- 1h 54m
- Longest astronomical night
- Dec 21 — 12h 41m
- Days with true darkness
- 236 / 365
White-night counts
27 days without civil-twilight bound, 91 without nautical-twilight bound, 129 without astronomical-twilight bound. On those days the sun never gets low enough for the named phase to occur, so true darkness disappears for that stretch.
Twilight phases reference
What each phase means
Solar elevation thresholds used on this page. All angles are measured from the true horizon at the city coordinate.
Sunrise / sunset · -0.833°
The sun's upper edge crosses the horizon. The negative value is atmospheric refraction (~34') plus the apparent solar disc radius (~16') — what almanacs call "official" sunrise/sunset.
Golden hour · 6° to -4°
Warm, low-angle light photographers and cinematographers plan around. Two windows per day — one in the morning, one in the evening.
Blue hour · -4° to -6°
Sky takes on deep, even blues; useful for cityscape photography because artificial lights and ambient sky balance.
Civil twilight · -6°
Brightest natural objects are still visible; outdoor activities don't need artificial light. Used in many legal definitions of dawn/dusk.
Nautical twilight · -12°
Horizon is just visible at sea, allowing celestial navigation; named for sailors taking sextant fixes.
Astronomical twilight · -18°
Sky is dark enough for deep-sky observation. After astronomical dusk and before astronomical dawn is when astrophotographers shoot.
Solar planning depth
What the Anchorage daylight curve means
This section turns the chart into readable planning context: latitude, seasonal range, monthly checkpoints, and how the curve should be used.
Solar fingerprint
Anchorage, United States is modeled at 61.22°N, 149.90°W in America/Anchorage. That coordinate pair drives every bar in the 2026 daylight curve.
Seasonal swing
The longest day is Jun 18 at 19h 22m; the shortest is Dec 19 at 5h 27m. The yearly range is 13h 55m, which makes this a large seasonal daylight profile.
Latitude context
Anchorage sits in the Northern Hemisphere high-mid latitude band. Latitude is the main reason two cities in the same timezone can have very different sunrise, sunset, and day-length patterns.
Monthly anchors
Useful checkpoints in this curve: Jan 15 6h 24m, Mar 15 11h 44m, Jun 15 19h 19m, and Sep 15 12h 56m. These anchors help readers see the shape of the year without reading all 365 bars one by one.
Today and twilight
Today in Anchorage, sunrise is about 8:38 AM, sunset about 4:47 PM, solar noon 12:43 PM, and daylight totals 8h 9m. Civil twilight runs 7:50 AM to 5:36 PM; golden hour windows are 8:08 AM to 9:53 AM and 3:32 PM to 5:17 PM.
Golden hour planning
Today's combined morning + evening golden hour totals 3h 31m. The longest combined golden hour day of 2026 is Dec 8 — 6h 36m. The shortest non-zero day is Sep 20 — 2h 47m. Year-round average is 3h 39m per day across days where a golden-hour window exists.
Twilight ladder
Nautical twilight today: 6:58 AM to 6:28 PM. Astronomical twilight today: 6:07 AM to 7:18 PM. The single longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 occurs on Dec 21 — 12h 41m. 236 days in 2026 include at least some astronomical darkness. 27 civil-twilight white-night days in 2026 (the sun stays above -6° all night). 129 astronomical white-night days (the sun never reaches -18°), so true darkness disappears for that stretch.
Seasonal momentum
Fastest daily daylight gain: Jan 29 (+6m from the previous day). Fastest daily daylight loss: Jul 30 (-6m from the previous day). Closest 12-hour balance: Sep 25 at 12h (no change from 12h). Average-month anchors: June average 19h 12m is brightest, while December average 5h 38m is shortest. 149 days reach 14h+ daylight; 131 days stay at 10h or less.
Blue and civil light
Today's combined blue hour totals 36m. The longest combined blue-hour day is Jun 7 — 2h 58m. Blue-hour average is 47m per usable day. The longest civil-twilight-only day is Jun 7 — 4h 52m. Civil twilight averages 1h 54m where both dawn and dusk edges exist.
Sunrise and sunset are approximations for planning and comparison. For legal, aviation, photography, or scientific use, verify with a local almanac or official observatory source.
Frequently asked questions
Anchorage sun questions
- When is golden hour in Anchorage?
- Today, the evening golden hour in Anchorage runs 3:32 PM to 5:17 PM; the morning window is 8:08 AM to 9:53 AM. Combined total today is 3h 31m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Dec 8 — 6h 36m.
- When does civil twilight start and end in Anchorage?
- Civil twilight in Anchorage today runs 7:50 AM to 5:36 PM. It's the period when the sun is between -0.833° and -6° elevation; the brightest stars become visible at the dusk boundary.
- What is the longest astronomical-night day of the year in Anchorage?
- Anchorage's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Dec 21 — 12h 41m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.
- Are there white nights in Anchorage?
- 27 days without a civil-twilight bound, 91 without a nautical-twilight bound, 129 without an astronomical-twilight bound. On those days the sun never falls low enough for the named phase to occur, so true darkness disappears for that stretch of 2026.
Comparable daylight curves
These are selected by latitude and annual daylight swing, not by the generic city list, so the comparison is tied to Anchorage's actual solar profile.