Sunrise and sunset in Cape Town

Today the sun sets at 18:33 in Cape Town, South Africa, after 11 hours and 39 minutes of daylight that began with sunrise at 06:54. Darkness does not fall at once: civil twilight lasts until 18:58, and until then you can still read outdoors without artificial light. Sunset shifts by a minute or two each day because of the tilt of the Earth's axis: this page has the calendar for the whole year, with sunrise and sunset on the 1st and 15th of each month. Times are computed with the NOAA solar algorithm from the city coordinates and shown in its local time zone.

Today sunrise in Cape Town, South Africa is at 06:54, and daylight lasts 11 hours and 39 minutes until sunset at 18:33. The day actually begins earlier: civil twilight starts at 06:29, when the sky brightens while the sun is still below the horizon. Solar noon, when the sun is at its highest, falls at 12:43. Sunrise is the moment the upper edge of the sun appears on the horizon, accounting for atmospheric refraction: the same definition used by astronomical observatories.

The three twilights differ by how far the sun has dropped below the horizon. Civil twilight reaches 6 degrees: in Cape Town it ends at 18:58 today, the hour when you can no longer read outdoors without artificial light. Nautical twilight extends to 12 degrees, today until 19:27: while it lasts, the sea horizon stays visible and sextant navigation works. Astronomical twilight ends at 18 degrees, today at 19:56: from then the sky is fully dark and even faint stars appear. In the morning the sequence runs in reverse, starting at 05:31.