date_sunrise

(PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

date_sunriseReturns time of sunrise for a given day and location

Warning

This function has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 8.1.0. Relying on this function is highly discouraged. Use date_sun_info() instead.

Description

date_sunrise(
    int $timestamp,
    int $returnFormat = SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING,
    ?float $latitude = null,
    ?float $longitude = null,
    ?float $zenith = null,
    ?float $utcOffset = null
): string|int|float|false

date_sunrise() returns the sunrise time for a given day (specified as a timestamp) and location.

Parameters

timestamp

The timestamp of the day from which the sunrise time is taken.

returnFormat

returnFormat constants
constant description example
SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING returns the result as string 16:46
SUNFUNCS_RET_DOUBLE returns the result as float 16.78243132
SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP returns the result as int (timestamp) 1095034606

latitude

Defaults to North, pass in a negative value for South. See also: date.default_latitude

longitude

Defaults to East, pass in a negative value for West. See also: date.default_longitude

zenith

zenith is the angle between the center of the sun and a line perpendicular to earth's surface. It defaults to date.sunrise_zenith

Common zenith angles
Angle Description
90°50' Sunrise: the point where the sun becomes visible.
96° Civil twilight: conventionally used to signify the start of dawn.
102° Nautical twilight: the point at which the horizon starts being visible at sea.
108° Astronomical twilight: the point at which the sun starts being the source of any illumination.

utcOffset

Specified in hours. The utcOffset is ignored, if returnFormat is SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP.

Return Values

Returns the sunrise time in a specified returnFormat on success or false on failure. One potential reason for failure is that the sun does not rise at all, which happens inside the polar circles for part of the year.

Errors/Exceptions

Every call to a date/time function will generate a E_WARNING if the time zone is not valid. See also date_default_timezone_set()

Changelog

Version Description
8.1.0 This function has been deprecated in favor of date_sun_info().
8.0.0 latitude, longitude, zenith and utcOffset are nullable now.

Examples

Example #1 date_sunrise() example

<?php

/* calculate the sunrise time for Lisbon, Portugal
Latitude: 38.4 North
Longitude: 9 West
Zenith ~= 90
offset: +1 GMT
*/

echo date("D M d Y"). ', sunrise time : ' .date_sunrise(time(), SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING, 38.4, -9, 90, 1);

?>

The above example will output something similar to:

Mon Dec 20 2004, sunrise time : 08:54

Example #2 No sunrise

<?php
$solstice
= strtotime('2017-12-21');
var_dump(date_sunrise($solstice, SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING, 69.245833, -53.537222));
?>

The above example will output:

bool(false)

See Also

  • date_sun_info() - Returns an array with information about sunset/sunrise and twilight begin/end

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User Contributed Notes 3 notes

up
1
nomail at nospam dot com
6 years ago
maybe I am wrong, but I think

SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP     return GMT(0) time

SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING     Return local time
SUNFUNCS_RET_DOUBLE     Return local time
up
0
scottix at gmail dot com
11 years ago
If you are working in multiple timezones getting the offset from a date is a little tricky because you need it in hours.

<?php

$time
= new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('America/Los_Angeles'));

date_sunrise(
$time->getTimestamp(),
SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP,
38.4,
-
9,
90,
$time->getOffset() / 3600
);
up
-5
jonathanNO dot kuhnSPAM at gmailNOSPAM dot com
14 years ago
After some searching, I finally found a website that can calculate the sun's zenith. Just look up your city's lat/long (remember, west/south are negative even if it doesn't show where you look up the lat/long) and the time of sunrise/sunset and use this site:

http://solardat.uoregon.edu/cgi-bin/SolarPositionCalculator.cgi

You have to enter in the sunrise/sunset times separately, but it works.
San Diego is:
Lat: 32.73
Long: -117.17
Sunrise Z.: 90.7379
Sunset Z.: 90.8880
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