Golden hour settings
Golden Hour Clock
Find the next golden hour, sunrise, sunset, and blue-hour windows for a selected date and location.
How the golden-hour windows are calculated
This route uses local JavaScript formulas based on common Julian-date and solar-position calculations. It does not use a package or request an astronomy API. Inputs are the selected date, latitude, longitude, and the device's current time zone. Latitude must be from -90 to 90 and longitude from -180 to 180. Invalid values produce no event times.
The Classic method defines morning golden hour as the first 60 minutes after calculated sunrise and evening golden hour as the final 60 minutes before calculated sunset. The Solar-angle method uses the period from the modeled horizon to 6 degrees above it. If that angle window is invalid at the chosen latitude and date, the page falls back to the 60-minute method and labels the fallback.
Worked example for the Classic method: if the calculated sunrise is 06:20, the morning window is 06:20 to 07:20. If sunset is 18:45, the evening window is 17:45 to 18:45. The countdown subtracts the device-clock time from the next calculated boundary.
Times are rounded to the minute. The model does not include terrain, elevation, buildings, weather, camera exposure, or the visible horizon. GPS coordinates are used in memory and are not stored by this route or sent to an astronomy service. Sound can be delayed or blocked by browser audio rules, background suspension, or device sleep.
Sources: NOAA solar calculation details.
Select a place, date, and definition
Enter valid latitude and longitude values or use the device location control. Classic uses fixed 60-minute windows around the calculated sunrise and sunset. Solar-angle mode uses the configured solar elevation boundaries. Today restores the current date.
For latitude 40.7128 and longitude -74.006 on a selected date, the page calculates morning and evening windows locally. The countdown targets the next boundary shown by that calculation. Invalid coordinates do not silently fall back to a different location.