Sun or Moon Altitude/Azimuth Table
Astronomical Applications Dept. Astronomical Applications Dept.
 
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This page provides a way for you to obtain a table of the altitude and azimuth of the Sun or Moon during a specific day, at a time interval that you specify. Simply specify the object, date, tabular interval, and place below and click on the "Compute Table" button. The altitude and azimuth values are tabulated as a function of the standard time (daylight time is not used) of the place requested on a 24-hour clock.

Use Form A for cities or towns in the U.S. or its territories. Use Form B for all other locations. Both forms are immediately below.

Please read the Notes section for details on the data and definitions of altitude and azimuth.

Form A - U.S. Cities or Towns

Object:   
             

  

  

The place name you enter above must be a city or town in the U.S. The place's location will be retrieved from a file with over 22,000 places listed. Either upper- or lower-case letters or a combination can be used. Spell out place name prefixes, as in "East Orange", "Fort Lauderdale", "Mount Vernon", etc. The only exception is "St.", which is entered as an abbreviation with a period, as in "St. Louis". You need only enter as many characters as will unambiguously identify the place.

Form B - Locations Worldwide

Object:   
             

 

The place name you enter above is merely a label for the table header; you can enter any identifier, or none (avoid using punctuation characters). The data will be calculated for the longitude and latitude you enter below.

Longitude:        
Latitude:        
Time Zone:    

Need coordinates?  Try NGA's GEOnet Names Server (GNS). (Click on the "GNS Search" link at the top of the left frame.)
Need U.S. coordinates?  Try the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
Need a time zone?  Try the time zone map.

Notes on the Data:

Altitude is the angle up from the horizon. Zero degrees altitude means exactly on your local horizon, and 90 degrees is "straight up". Hence, "directly underfoot" is -90 degrees altitude. Azimuth is the angle along the horizon, with zero degrees corresponding to North, and increasing in a clockwise fashion. Thus, 90 degrees is East, 180 degrees is South, and 270 degrees is West. Using these two angles, one can describe the apparent position of an object (such as the Sun at a given time).

The altitude and azimuth values are for the center of the apparent disk of the Sun or Moon. The altitude values include the effect of standard atmospheric refraction when the object is above the horizon. The azimuth values are computed with respect to true north (not magnetic). For instructions on using a true azimuth (bearing) with a compass, see NOAA's Geomagnetism FAQs. To determine the magnetic declination for a specific location and date, see NOAA's Geophysical Data Center - Magnetic Declination calculator.

A break in the output table indicates the object has dropped more than 12 degrees below the horizon and is not near the horizon again until the next indicated time.

For rise and set times, see Sun and Moon Data for One Day.

Daylight time is not implemented in this program. When daylight time is in use, add one hour to the times listed in the table.

 
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