Mount Cook / Aoraki

For every 1,000 meters of elevation increase, the actual sunrise occurs about 4 to 5 minutes earlier, and sunset is delayed by 4 to 5 minutes due to horizon depression. Our site includes altitude corrections.

Autumn and winter usually offer lower humidity and higher visibility, making dramatic sunrises more likely. Pair with our cloud cover forecast for the best experience.

All sunrise, sunset, and solar trajectory times are calculated and displayed in the spot's local timezone (including automatic adjustments for Daylight Saving Time). The real-time position of the sun/moon on the trajectory is also based on the current local time at the attraction's location.

Low cloud cover (<30%) means clear skies and direct sunlight. Moderate cloud cover (30%-70%) is ideal for catching golden hours and colorful dramatic clouds. High cloud cover (>80%) indicates overcast skies, which usually block the sunrise/sunset view.

Civil Dawn is when the sun's center is 6 degrees below the horizon in the morning. It marks the start of the "blue hour" when there is enough light to distinguish objects. Civil Dusk is the same angle in the evening when natural light fully fades.

Azimuth is the direction measured clockwise from true north (North is 0°, East is 90°). By finding the sunrise azimuth angle on your compass, you can project exactly where the sun will rise relative to the local landscape.

Yes. The system automatically reads the standard IANA timezone database for each spot and adjusts calculations according to whether DST is active on the selected date, showing the actual local clock time.

Slight differences of 1-3 minutes are caused by: 1) variations in the astronomical refraction models; 2) precision of the GPS coordinates; 3) elevation. Many tools ignore elevation, while our system calculates altitude corrections for mountain attractions.