What time was sunrise today? When will the sun set tonight? Will those times be the same tomorrow? Are they the same everywhere in the world?

We kept track of the times of sunrise and sunset in several cities around the world. We did this each day for a period of a few weeks from August through October, 1998.

The data was gathered by watching the sun rise and set and recording the times, or by checking in the local newspapers. Sunrise and sunrise data for anywhere in the world and for any day can be obtained from the web site of the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group, which we link to at the bottom of this page.

Look at the Results Page to see the data from around the world that has been accumulated. What patterns do you see?

What's Next?

Learn about how an ancient librarian used observations of the sun to measure the cricumference of the earth in How Round Is the Earth? You will also find out how to sign up for an exciting collaborative Internet project going on right now (March 2000) called the Noon Observation Project.