When is golden hour in Sydney?

Today, the evening golden hour in Sydney runs 6:53 PM to 7:43 PM; the morning window is 5:33 AM to 6:24 AM. Combined total today is 1h 42m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Jun 21 — 1h 51m.

When does civil twilight start and end in Sydney?

Civil twilight in Sydney today runs 5:23 AM to 7:54 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 Sydney?

Sydney's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Jun 21 — 11h 7m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.

Are there white nights in Sydney?

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

Daylight curve

Daylight in Sydney, 2026

33.87°S · 151.21°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

14.4h

2026-12-16

Shortest day

9.9h

2026-06-16

Average

12.1h

Δ seasonal

12h

18h

24h

Today's solar window

Sun and twilight in Sydney

Sunrise

5:49 AM

Solar noon

12:38 PM

Sunset

7:27 PM

Day length

13h 38m

Civil twilight (-6°)

5:23 AM to 7:54 PM

Nautical twilight (-12°)

4:50 AM to 8:26 PM

Astronomical twilight (-18°)

4:16 AM to 9:00 PM

Golden hour1h 42m total

5:33 AM to 6:24 AM · 6:53 PM to 7:43 PM

Blue hour21m total

5:23 AM to 5:33 AM · 7:43 PM to 7:54 PM

Seasonal checkpoints

Solstice and equinox anchors

March equinox

Mar 20

12h 8m

June solstice

Jun 21

9h 54m

September equinox

Sep 22

12h 7m

December solstice

Dec 21

14h 24m

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

City solar dossier

Sydney daylight facts that are not generic

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

Coordinate model

Sydney is computed at 33.87°S, 151.21°E in Australia/Sydney. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.

Annual daylight spread

4h 30m between Jun 16 (9h 54m) and Dec 16 (14h 24m).

Local-date snapshot

Today resolves to sunrise 5:49 AM, solar noon 12:38 PM, and sunset 7:27 PM.

Photographer signal

golden hour today 1h 42m; blue hour today 21m; longest golden-hour day Jun 21 — 1h 51m

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

Buenos Aires (4h 39m swing); Perth (4h 11m swing); Los Angeles (4h 32m swing); Auckland (5h 3m swing); Tel Aviv (4h 12m swing)

Solar evidence pack

Why this Sydney 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

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/sun/sydney/ resolves to Sydney, Australia; the route is generated only from the retained SUN_CITIES list.

Coordinate precision

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33.87°S, 151.21°E; latitude band mid-latitude band; Southern Hemisphere.

Local timezone

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

Full-year daylight curve

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

Annual extremes

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Longest Dec 16 (14h 24m), shortest Jun 16 (9h 54m), average 12h 6m.

Seasonal momentum

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Fastest gain Sep 17 (+3m from the previous day); fastest loss Mar 2 (-3m from the previous day); closest 12-hour day Mar 24 at 12h (no change from 12h).

Local-day solar snapshot

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Today: sunrise 5:49 AM, solar noon 12:38 PM, sunset 7:27 PM.

Twilight ladder

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Golden Jun 21 — 1h 51m; blue Dec 21 — 23m; civil Dec 21 — 58m; astronomical night Jun 21 — 11h 7m.

Darkness and white-night model

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

Seasonal checkpoints

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March equinox: 12h 8m; June solstice: 9h 54m; September equinox: 12h 7m; December solstice: 14h 24m

Peer curve comparison

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Buenos Aires (4h 39m); Perth (4h 11m); Los Angeles (4h 32m); Auckland (5h 3m); Tel Aviv (4h 12m)

Method and citation boundary

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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 42m golden hour today

Best annual golden-hour day: Jun 21 — 1h 51m. Blue-hour total today: 21m.

Astronomy

365 true-darkness days

Longest astronomical-night entry: Jun 21 — 11h 7m. Use local cloud cover and moon phase separately.

Outdoor routine

13h 38m daylight today

Sunrise 5:49 AM and sunset 7:27 PM are the practical day-boundaries for school runs, work windows, and outdoor activity.

Seasonal planning

4h 30m annual swing

December average 14h 22m; June average 9h 56m. This is the year-scale gap to check before travel or outdoor scheduling.

Travel comparison

10 retained peer curves

Sydney's closest daylight-pattern peers here include Buenos Aires (4h 39m annual swing), Perth (4h 11m annual swing), Los Angeles (4h 32m annual swing), Auckland (5h 3m 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, Australia/Sydney 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 Australia/Sydney 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

Sep 17 (+3m from the previous day)

Fastest loss

Mar 2 (-3m from the previous day)

Closest 12-hour balance

Mar 24 at 12h (no change from 12h)

Brightest month

December average 14h 22m

Shortest month

June average 9h 56m

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 51m
Shortest non-zero golden hour day: Sep 24 — 1h 36m
Year-round daily average: 1h 43m
Longest blue hour day: Dec 21 — 23m
Blue-hour daily average: 21m
Longest civil twilight: Dec 21 — 58m
Civil twilight average: 53m
Longest astronomical night: Jun 21 — 11h 7m
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 Sydney 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

Sydney, Australia is modeled at 33.87°S, 151.21°E in Australia/Sydney. That coordinate pair drives every bar in the 2026 daylight curve.

Seasonal swing

The longest day is Dec 16 at 14h 24m; the shortest is Jun 16 at 9h 54m. The yearly range is 4h 30m, which makes this a moderate seasonal daylight profile.

Latitude context

Sydney sits in the Southern Hemisphere 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 14h 9m, Mar 15 12h 19m, Jun 15 9h 55m, and Sep 15 11h 52m. These anchors help readers see the shape of the year without reading all 365 bars one by one.

Today and twilight

Today in Sydney, sunrise is about 5:49 AM, sunset about 7:27 PM, solar noon 12:38 PM, and daylight totals 13h 38m. Civil twilight runs 5:23 AM to 7:54 PM; golden hour windows are 5:33 AM to 6:24 AM and 6:53 PM to 7:43 PM.

Golden hour planning

Today's combined morning + evening golden hour totals 1h 42m. The longest combined golden hour day of 2026 is Jun 21 — 1h 51m. The shortest non-zero day is Sep 24 — 1h 36m. Year-round average is 1h 43m per day across days where a golden-hour window exists.

Twilight ladder

Nautical twilight today: 4:50 AM to 8:26 PM. Astronomical twilight today: 4:16 AM to 9:00 PM. The single longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 occurs on Jun 21 — 11h 7m. 365 days in 2026 include at least some astronomical darkness.

Seasonal momentum

Fastest daily daylight gain: Sep 17 (+3m from the previous day). Fastest daily daylight loss: Mar 2 (-3m from the previous day). Closest 12-hour balance: Mar 24 at 12h (no change from 12h). Average-month anchors: December average 14h 22m is brightest, while June average 9h 56m is shortest. 63 days reach 14h+ daylight; 35 days stay at 10h or less.

Blue and civil light

Today's combined blue hour totals 21m. The longest combined blue-hour day is Dec 21 — 23m. Blue-hour average is 21m per usable day. The longest civil-twilight-only day is Dec 21 — 58m. Civil twilight averages 53m 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

Sydney sun questions

When is golden hour in Sydney?: Today, the evening golden hour in Sydney runs 6:53 PM to 7:43 PM; the morning window is 5:33 AM to 6:24 AM. Combined total today is 1h 42m. Across 2026, the longest combined golden-hour day is Jun 21 — 1h 51m.
When does civil twilight start and end in Sydney?: Civil twilight in Sydney today runs 5:23 AM to 7:54 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 Sydney?: Sydney's longest stretch of true astronomical darkness in 2026 is Jun 21 — 11h 7m. Astronomical twilight ends when the sun reaches -18° elevation; only beyond that do deep-sky targets become observable.
Are there white nights in Sydney?: No. Sydney'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 Sydney's actual solar profile.