When is golden hour in Nairobi?

Today, the evening golden hour in Nairobi runs 5:52 PM to 6:34 PM; the morning window is 5:58 AM to 6:39 AM. Combined total today is 1h 23m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Jun 21 — 1h 27m.

When does civil twilight start and end in Nairobi?

Civil twilight in Nairobi today runs 5:49 AM to 6:42 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 Nairobi?

Nairobi's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Mar 31 — 9h 36m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.

Are there white nights in Nairobi?

No. Nairobi's latitude produces a full civil/nautical/astronomical twilight ladder on every day of 2026.

Daylight curve

Daylight in Nairobi, 2026

1.29°S · 36.82°E. 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

12.2h

2026-01-01

Shortest day

12.1h

2026-05-15

Average

12.1h

Δ seasonal

12h

18h

24h

Today's solar window

Sun and twilight in Nairobi

Sunrise

6:11 AM

Solar noon

12:16 PM

Sunset

6:21 PM

Day length

12h 10m

Civil twilight (-6°)

5:49 AM to 6:42 PM

Nautical twilight (-12°)

5:24 AM to 7:07 PM

Astronomical twilight (-18°)

4:59 AM to 7:32 PM

Golden hour1h 23m total

5:58 AM to 6:39 AM · 5:52 PM to 6:34 PM

Blue hour17m total

5:49 AM to 5:58 AM · 6:34 PM to 6:42 PM

Seasonal checkpoints

Solstice and equinox anchors

March equinox

Mar 20

12h 7m

June solstice

Jun 21

12h 3m

September equinox

Sep 22

12h 7m

December solstice

Dec 21

12h 12m

Full-year edge cases: 0 polar-day entries and 0 polar-night entries in the 2026 curve.

City solar dossier

Nairobi daylight facts that are not generic

These rows bind the page to Nairobi's coordinates, local timezone, annual daylight spread, twilight availability, and peer-city curve rather than a reusable sunrise template.

Coordinate model

Nairobi is computed at 1.29°S, 36.82°E in Africa/Nairobi. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.

Annual daylight spread

0h 9m between May 15 (12h 3m) and Jan 1 (12h 12m).

Local-date snapshot

Today resolves to sunrise 6:11 AM, solar noon 12:16 PM, and sunset 6:21 PM.

Photographer signal

golden hour today 1h 23m; blue hour today 17m; longest golden-hour day Jun 21 — 1h 27m

Darkness and white-night risk

365 days include astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days and 0 astronomical white-night days are modeled in 2026.

Best comparison anchors

Singapore (0h 9m swing); Lagos (0h 45m swing); Lima (1h 25m swing); Bangkok (1h 37m swing); Mumbai (2h 18m swing)

Solar evidence pack

Why this Nairobi 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/nairobi/ resolves to Nairobi, Kenya; the route is generated only from the retained SUN_CITIES list.

Coordinate precision

pass

1.29°S, 36.82°E; latitude band tropical latitude band; Southern Hemisphere.

Local timezone

pass

Africa/Nairobi is used to anchor today's local sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight windows.

Full-year daylight curve

pass

365 daily daylight rows were computed for 2026; expected 365.

Annual extremes

pass

Longest Jan 1 (12h 12m), shortest May 15 (12h 3m), average 12h 7m.

Seasonal momentum

pass

Fastest gain Jul 28 (+1m from the previous day); fastest loss Jan 6 (-1m from the previous day); closest 12-hour day May 15 at 12h 3m (+3m from 12h).

Local-day solar snapshot

pass

Today: sunrise 6:11 AM, solar noon 12:16 PM, sunset 6:21 PM.

Twilight ladder

pass

Golden Jun 21 — 1h 27m; blue Dec 21 — 17m; civil Dec 21 — 45m; astronomical night Mar 31 — 9h 36m.

Darkness and white-night model

pass

365 days with astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days; 0 astronomical white-night days.

Seasonal checkpoints

pass

March equinox: 12h 7m; June solstice: 12h 3m; September equinox: 12h 7m; December solstice: 12h 12m

Peer curve comparison

pass

Singapore (0h 9m); Lagos (0h 45m); Lima (1h 25m); Bangkok (1h 37m); Mumbai (2h 18m)

Method and citation boundary

pass

Solar 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

1h 23m golden hour today

Best annual golden-hour day: Jun 21 — 1h 27m. Blue-hour total today: 17m.

Astronomy

365 true-darkness days

Longest astronomical-night entry: Mar 31 — 9h 36m. Use local cloud cover and moon phase separately.

Outdoor routine

12h 10m daylight today

Sunrise 6:11 AM and sunset 6:21 PM are the practical day-boundaries for school runs, work windows, and outdoor activity.

Seasonal planning

0h 9m annual swing

December average 12h 12m; May average 12h 3m. This is the year-scale gap to check before travel or outdoor scheduling.

Travel comparison

10 retained peer curves

Nairobi's closest daylight-pattern peers here include Singapore (0h 9m annual swing), Lagos (0h 45m annual swing), Lima (1h 25m annual swing), Bangkok (1h 37m annual swing).

Civil-light risk

Full civil-twilight bound all year

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, Africa/Nairobi 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 Africa/Nairobi 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

Days at or above fourteen hours of sun.

10h-or-less days

Short-day entries at ten hours or below.

Fastest gain

Jul 28 (+1m from the previous day)

Fastest loss

Jan 6 (-1m from the previous day)

Closest 12-hour balance

May 15 at 12h 3m (+3m from 12h)

Brightest month

December average 12h 12m

Shortest month

May average 12h 3m

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: Jun 21 — 1h 27m
Shortest non-zero golden hour day: Mar 20 — 1h 20m
Year-round daily average: 1h 24m
Longest blue hour day: Dec 21 — 17m
Blue-hour daily average: 17m
Longest civil twilight: Dec 21 — 45m
Civil twilight average: 43m
Longest astronomical night: Mar 31 — 9h 36m
Days with true darkness: 365 / 365

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 Nairobi 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

Nairobi, Kenya is modeled at 1.29°S, 36.82°E in Africa/Nairobi. That coordinate pair drives every bar in the 2026 daylight curve.

Seasonal swing

The longest day is Jan 1 at 12h 12m; the shortest is May 15 at 12h 3m. The yearly range is 0h 9m, which makes this a low-variation tropical daylight profile.

Latitude context

Nairobi sits in the Southern Hemisphere tropical 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 12h 11m, Mar 15 12h 7m, Jun 15 12h 3m, and Sep 15 12h 6m. These anchors help readers see the shape of the year without reading all 365 bars one by one.

Today and twilight

Today in Nairobi, sunrise is about 6:11 AM, sunset about 6:21 PM, solar noon 12:16 PM, and daylight totals 12h 10m. Civil twilight runs 5:49 AM to 6:42 PM; golden hour windows are 5:58 AM to 6:39 AM and 5:52 PM to 6:34 PM.

Golden hour planning

Today's combined morning + evening golden hour totals 1h 23m. The longest combined golden hour day of 2026 is Jun 21 — 1h 27m. The shortest non-zero day is Mar 20 — 1h 20m. Year-round average is 1h 24m per day across days where a golden-hour window exists.

Twilight ladder

Nautical twilight today: 5:24 AM to 7:07 PM. Astronomical twilight today: 4:59 AM to 7:32 PM. The single longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 occurs on Mar 31 — 9h 36m. 365 days in 2026 include at least some astronomical darkness.

Seasonal momentum

Fastest daily daylight gain: Jul 28 (+1m from the previous day). Fastest daily daylight loss: Jan 6 (-1m from the previous day). Closest 12-hour balance: May 15 at 12h 3m (+3m from 12h). Average-month anchors: December average 12h 12m is brightest, while May average 12h 3m is shortest. 0 days reach 14h+ daylight; 0 days stay at 10h or less.

Blue and civil light

Today's combined blue hour totals 17m. The longest combined blue-hour day is Dec 21 — 17m. Blue-hour average is 17m per usable day. The longest civil-twilight-only day is Dec 21 — 45m. Civil twilight averages 43m 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

Nairobi sun questions

When is golden hour in Nairobi?: Today, the evening golden hour in Nairobi runs 5:52 PM to 6:34 PM; the morning window is 5:58 AM to 6:39 AM. Combined total today is 1h 23m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Jun 21 — 1h 27m.
When does civil twilight start and end in Nairobi?: Civil twilight in Nairobi today runs 5:49 AM to 6:42 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 Nairobi?: Nairobi's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Mar 31 — 9h 36m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.
Are there white nights in Nairobi?: No. Nairobi's latitude produces a full civil/nautical/astronomical twilight ladder on every day 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 Nairobi's actual solar profile.