Sunrise & sunset times in Sydney
Sunrise in Sydney today is at 05:31 and sunset is at 17:58, giving 12h 27m of daylight (times for Friday, 2 October 2026, in Sydney's local time zone). Evening golden hour runs 17:25 to 17:58. The moon is a waning gibbous at 67% illumination.
Live sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length, golden hour, blue hour and moon times for Sydney, Australia. Pick any date to see the light for that day in local time.
On the 2026 June solstice the sun rises at 06:59 and sets at 16:53 in Sydney (9h 54m of daylight). On the December solstice it rises at 05:40 and sets at 20:05 (14h 25m).
| Event | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:57 | 19:06 | 12h 9m |
| June solstice | 06:59 | 16:53 | 9h 54m |
| September equinox | 05:45 | 17:51 | 12h 6m |
| December solstice | 05:40 | 20:05 | 14h 25m |
Full sun timeline for Sydney
Civil dawn, when the sky starts to brighten before sunrise.
The moment the top edge of the sun appears on the horizon.
End of the soft, warm morning light photographers love.
The sun reaches its highest point in the sky for the day.
Start of the warm, low evening light before sunset.
The moment the sun dips fully below the horizon.
Civil dusk, when the last usable daylight fades.
Golden hour and blue hour in Sydney
The best windows for warm and cool natural light on this date.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:59 | 20:09 | 14h 10m |
| February | 06:29 | 19:48 | 13h 18m |
| March | 06:53 | 19:14 | 12h 20m |
| April | 06:17 | 17:32 | 11h 16m |
| May | 06:39 | 17:02 | 10h 23m |
| June | 06:58 | 16:52 | 9h 55m |
| July | 06:58 | 17:04 | 10h 6m |
| August | 06:34 | 17:25 | 10h 50m |
| September | 05:55 | 17:46 | 11h 51m |
| October | 06:14 | 19:08 | 12h 54m |
| November | 05:43 | 19:36 | 13h 52m |
| December | 05:38 | 20:01 | 14h 24m |
Sun and moon in Sydney
If you are scheduling a rooftop dinner or an early hike, the daily sun and moon schedule for Sydney is easy to check here. This page shows live sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length, morning and evening golden hour, blue hour, dawn and dusk, plus the current moon phase and the moonrise and moonset times for Sydney. Every value is calculated in the browser for the date you pick and shown in the local time of Sydney, Australia. Sydney sits at roughly 33.87 degrees south, in the southern hemisphere, so it sees a gentle seasonal swing, since day length stays fairly even through the year and the sun climbs high overhead in summer. Because the length of the day changes with the seasons, the exact sunrise and sunset in Sydney shift from week to week. Pick any date with the date picker to see how the light will fall on a specific day, which is handy for planning a shoot, an event, a wedding, a flight or simply the best moment to catch the last warm light of the evening. Golden hour, that soft warm window near sunrise and sunset, is the favourite of photographers in Sydney. Blue hour, the cooler stretch just before sunrise and just after sunset, is ideal for cityscapes and long exposures. Combined with the moon phase and moon times, this gives you a complete picture of natural light over Sydney, Australia for any day of the year.
What time is sunset in Sydney today?
The sun sets in Sydney at 17:58 today, Friday, 2 October 2026, in Sydney's own local time. The warm light starts well before that: evening golden hour opens at 17:25, giving 33 minutes of low golden light before the sun reaches the horizon. Sunset is not the end of the light either. Last light, the moment usable daylight ends at civil dusk, follows 25 minutes later at 18:23, and the sky is properly dark at 19:22, 1h 24m after sunset.
Tomorrow the sun sets at 17:59 in Sydney. That is 44 seconds later than today.
Planning around the light? See golden hour in Sydney.
Is the day getting longer or shorter in Sydney right now?
Sydney gets 12h 27m of daylight today, from sunrise to sunset. Tomorrow will be 2 minutes 6 seconds longer. Over the next seven days Sydney gains 14 minutes 38 seconds of daylight.
That pace is not constant. In Sydney the day length changes fastest around March, near the equinox, when it moves by about 2 minutes 8 seconds per day, and it slows almost to a stop at the solstices in June and December. The word solstice means exactly that: the sun standing still.
When are the earliest and latest sunrise and sunset in Sydney?
The earliest sunset of 2026 in Sydney falls on 11 June at 16:52, 10 days before the June solstice, and the latest on 7 January at 20:09.
Sunrise runs on its own schedule: earliest on 3 October at 05:30, latest on 4 April at 07:09, the last morning before the clocks go back. Two of these dates are pinned by the clocks rather than by the sky: a daylight saving change in Sydney moves sunrise and sunset by a whole hour overnight, so the earliest and latest times on the clock land on either side of it. The rest is astronomy. Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and its axis is tilted, so the sun runs a few minutes fast or slow against clock time through the year. That offset, the equation of time, is what pushes the earliest sunset ahead of the shortest day and the latest sunrise behind it.
| Extreme | Date | Local time | Why then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earliest sunrise | 3 Oct 2026 | 05:30 | the last morning before the clocks go forward |
| Latest sunrise | 4 Apr 2026 | 07:09 | the last morning before the clocks go back |
| Earliest sunset | 11 Jun 2026 | 16:52 | 10 days before the June solstice |
| Latest sunset | 7 Jan 2026 | 20:09 | 17 days after the December solstice |
These are wall-clock times, so Sydney's daylight saving change is part of the picture: an hour moved by the clocks counts the same as an hour moved by the Earth.
For the longest and shortest day themselves, see day length in Sydney.
How long does twilight last in Sydney?
First light in Sydney arrives 25 minutes before sunrise today, at 05:06. After sunset the light hangs on for another 25 minutes, until 18:23. That evening stretch is not the same all year in Sydney: it runs from 25 minutes at its shortest, in March, to 29 minutes at its longest, in December. The lower the angle at which the sun crosses the horizon, the longer twilight lasts, which is why dusk is a slow affair at high latitudes and abrupt near the equator.
Full three-band twilight tables: dawn in Sydney and dusk in Sydney.
How high does the sun get in Sydney?
At midday on the December solstice the sun stands 79.6 degrees above the horizon in Sydney. On the June solstice it climbs only 32.7 degrees. A midday sun that low throws a shadow about 1.6 times the height of whatever casts it, so even at noon in midwinter the shadows in Sydney are long ones.
Frequently asked questions about Sydney
What time is sunrise in Sydney today?
The sun rises in Sydney, Australia at 05:31 on Friday, 2 October 2026, and sets at 17:58. Use the date picker above to check sunrise for any other day. All times are given in the local time zone of Sydney.
When is golden hour in Sydney?
Sydney has two golden hours each day. On Friday, 2 October 2026 the morning window runs from 05:31 to 06:04, and the evening window from 17:25 to 17:58, all in local time. Pick another date above to plan a shoot down to the minute.
Why do sunrise and sunset change through the year in Sydney?
Because Sydney lies in the southern hemisphere, its days are longest around December and shortest around June. In Sydney the longer solstice day runs about 14h 25m and the shorter one about 9h 54m, as shown in the table above. As Earth orbits the Sun, the point on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets moves, which lengthens or shortens the day and shifts sunrise and sunset times.
Are the times for Sydney accurate?
Yes. Times are computed with the well established SunCalc astronomy library using the coordinates of Sydney and shown in its local time zone. They are accurate to about a minute for a clear, flat horizon. Hills, tall buildings and atmospheric conditions can shift the moment you actually see the Sun by a few minutes.
Does this page show the moon phase for Sydney?
Yes. The current moon phase, the percentage of the Moon that is lit, and the moonrise and moonset times for Sydney are all shown for the selected date, so you can plan around a full moon or a dark new moon sky.
How much daylight does Sydney gain or lose each day?
Sydney has 12h 27m of daylight on Friday, 2 October 2026 and is gaining daylight: 14 minutes 38 seconds over the following seven days, with tomorrow 2 minutes 6 seconds longer than today. The daily change is at its largest near the March and September equinoxes and almost stops at the June and December solstices.
When is the earliest sunset in Sydney?
The earliest sunset of 2026 in Sydney is on 11 June at 16:52, 10 days before the June solstice. The earliest sunset and the shortest day are not the same date, because the sun runs a few minutes fast or slow against clock time through the year, an effect called the equation of time.
How long does it stay light after sunset in Sydney?
About 25 minutes on Friday, 2 October 2026. The sun sets at 17:58 and usable daylight ends at civil dusk, 18:23, with full astronomical darkness at 19:22. The higher the latitude, the longer that fade takes.
Data and methodology: every time on this page is computed from Sydney's coordinates with SunCalc, an open source astronomy library, not estimated or looked up from a table. Coordinates -33.87, 151.21, time zone Australia/Sydney. Accurate to about a minute for a flat, unobstructed horizon; terrain, tall buildings and atmospheric conditions can shift the moment the sun is actually visible by a few minutes. Full method on methodology.
Nearby cities
Sun and moon times for places close to Sydney. Sunrise and sunset shift as you move east, west, north or south.
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Plain-English guides to the moments that shape the day in Sydney and everywhere else.
Keep Sydney in your calendar
Subscribe to a live feed of Sydney's sunrise and sunset in your own calendar app, so today's light is always a glance away. It updates by itself, with no account.