Sun Rise and Set

Sun Rise and Set in New Zealand

The table gives the times of Sun rise and Sun set for four centres in New Zealand. These can be used for any year as times will not vary by more than a minute or two on the same date from year to year. Times are for a horizon level with the observer and do not allow for hills or mountains obscuring the horizon.

This page also includes New Zealand dates for equinox and solstice events over the next few years. See the bottom of the page for the table.

New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) is used in the winter months and New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) is used in the summer months. NZDT starts on the last Sunday in September and ends on the first Sunday in April. Times in the table are in NZST or NZDT as is appropriate.

NZST is 12 hours ahead of Universal Time (UT), NZDT is 13 hours ahead of UT. UT is virtually the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For more information on Universal Time consult the USNO Universal Time page.

Sun or Moon rise and set tables for any location.

Tables of the daily times of Sun or Moon rise and set, and the times of twilight, civil, nautical or astronomical for any location for a selected year, can be easily generated at the USNO web site. The times of Moon rise and set change much more from day to day than those of sun rise and set. They are best generated for a given locality on a daily basis. To use the USNO site to generate them you will need your longitude and latitude. Times of twilight can also be generated at the same site.

Sunrise and sunset tables for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Note: detailed times of Sunrise and Sunset for other places in New Zealand are on the LINZ astronomical information web pages.

AnchorDateAucklandWellingtonChristchurchDunedin
NZDTRiseSetRiseSetRiseSetRiseSet
Jan 106:0520:4305:5120:5705:5221:1405:5121:31
Jan 1106:1320:4306:0120:5606:0221:1206:0221:29
Jan 2106:2420:4006:1220:5106:1421:0606:1521:23
Jan 3106:3520:3306:2520:4306:2820:5706:3021:12
Feb 1006:4620:2406:3820:3206:4220:4506:4520:59
Feb 2006:5620:1206:5020:1806:5520:3007:0020:43
Mar 207:0619:5907:0220:0307:0920:1407:1420:25
Mar 1207:1619:4507:1419:4707:2119:5707:2820:07
Mar 2207:2519:3007:2519:3007:3319:3907:4219:47
Apr 107:3419:1507:3619:1407:4519:2107:5519:28
In 2023 NZDT Sunday, April 2 at 3:00 am
DateAucklandWellingtonChristchurchDunedin
NZSTRiseSetRiseSetRiseSetRiseSet
Apr 1106:4218:0106:4617:5706:5718:0407:0818:10
Apr 2106:5117:4806:5717:4207:0917:4707:2117:52
May 107:0017:3607:0717:2807:2017:3207:3417:36
May 1107:0817:2607:1817:1607:3217:2007:4617:22
May 2107:1617:1807:2717:0707:4217:1007:5817:11
May 3107:2417:1307:3617:0107:5117:0308:0817:03
Jun 1007:3017:1107:4216:5807:5816:5908:1516:59
Jun 2007:3317:1107:4716:5808:0316:5908:2016:59
Jun 3007:3517:1407:4817:0108:0417:0208:2117:02
Jul 1007:3317:1907:4617:0708:0117:0908:1817:09
Jul 2007:2917:2607:4017:1507:5517:1708:1117:18
Jul 3007:2217:3307:3117:2407:4617:2708:0117:29
Aug 907:1217:4107:2017:3307:3317:3707:4717:40
Aug 1907:0017:5007:0717:4307:1917:4807:3217:52
Aug 2906:4717:5806:5217:5307:0317:5907:1418:05
Sep 806:3318:0606:3518:0306:4518:1006:5618:17
Sep 1806:18
18:1406:1818:1306:2718:2106:3618:29
Sep 28
07:0219:2207:0119:2307:0919:3207:1719:42
In 2022 NZDT starts Sunday, September 25 at 2:00 am

DateAucklandWellingtonChristchurchDunedin
NZDTRiseSetRiseSetRiseSetRiseSet
Oct 806:4719:3006:4419:3406:5119:4406:5819:55
Oct 1806:3319:3906:2819:4506:3419:5606:3920:08
Oct 2806:2119:4906:1419:5706:1820:0906:2220:22
Nov 706:1020:0006:0120:0906:0520:2206:0720:37
Nov 1706:0220:1005:5120:2105:5420:3605:5520:51
Nov 2705:5720:2005:4420:3305:4620:4805:4621:05
Dec 705:5520:3005:4120:4305:4220:5905:4221:17
Dec 1705:5620:3705:4220:5105:4321:0805:4221:26
Dec 2706:0120:4205:4720:5605:4821:1305:4721:30

Sun rise and set times for other parts of New Zealand

The times of Sun rise and set for other places in New Zealand can mostly be estimated within about 5 minutes from the times in the tables. Note that for places with the same latitude, a difference of 1° in longitude makes a difference of 4 minutes. Times are earlier for places to the east and later for places to the west. Thus Sun rise and set times for places on the west coast are mostly about 12 to 15 minutes later than those for places on the east coast.

In the North Island, Auckland and Wellington are virtually the same longitude, so for places like Hamilton, Taumarunui, Wanganui and Palmerston North, between them, times can be determined by proportion.

Also note that in midsummer, December and January, times of Sun rise for all places on the east coast of New Zealand are almost the same. This is true from East Cape, north of Gisborne in the North Island to Dunedin and Stewart Island in the South Island and includes Wellington. The same applies to the time of Sun set in winter, June and July.

Near the equinoxes, in March and September, latitude is unimportant, the times of Sun rise and set depend on longitude as explained above. That is, places at the same longitude have similar times of sunrise and sunset, whatever their latitude.

In summer for places with the same longitude, sunrise is earlier and sunset later the further south one goes, ie the hours of daylight are longer. The reverse is true in winter, hours of daylight are less in the south, that is the sun rises later and sets earlier in the south compared to the north, again for places at the same longitude.

New Zealand Equinoxes and Solstices

The following table gives dates and approximate times for equinox and solstice events for New Zealand over the next few years.

2022
Autumn EquinoxMarch 21, 4:33 AM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 9:13 PM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 1:04 PM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 10:47 AM
2023Autumn EquinoxMarch 21, 10:24 AM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 22, 2:57 AM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 6:50 PM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 4:27 PM
2024Autumn EquinoxMarch 20, 4:06 PM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 8:51 AM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 12:43 AM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 21, 10:20 PM
2025Autumn EquinoxMarch 20, 10:01 PM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 2:42 PM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 6:19 AM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 4:03 AM
2026Autumn EquinoxMarch 21, 3:45 AM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 8:24 PM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 12:05 PM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 9:50 AM
2027Autumn EquinoxMarch 21, 9:24 AM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 22, 2:10 AM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 6:01 PM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 3:42 PM
2028Autumn EquinoxMarch 20, 3:16 PM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 8:01 AM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 22, 11:45 PM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 21, 9:20 PM
2029Autumn EquinoxMarch 20, 9:01 PM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 1:48 PM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 5:37 AM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 3:14 AM
2030Autumn EquinoxMarch 21, 2:51 AM

Midwinter SolsticeJune 21, 7:31 PM

Spring EquinoxSeptember 23, 11:27 AM

Midsummer SolsticeDecember 22, 9:09 AM