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Sunrise, Sunset & FAA Night
Sunrise, sunset, civil twilight, and the two FAA night windows for any location and date — so you know when night logging and night currency apply.
Sun & twilight
| Event | Local | UTC |
|---|---|---|
| Morning civil twilight Loggable night ends | 08:50 AM | 08:50Z |
| Sunrise | 09:23 AM | 09:23Z |
| Sunset | 12:27 AM | 00:27Z |
| Evening civil twilight Loggable night begins | 01:00 AM | 01:00Z |
FAA night windows
Loggable night (§61.51)
01:00 AM → 08:50 AM
End of evening to start of morning civil twilight.
Night currency (§61.57)
01:27 AM → 08:23 AM
1 hr after sunset to 1 hr before sunrise.
The two FAA definitions of night
Pilots deal with two different night windows, and this tool shows both:
- Loggable night (14 CFR §61.51) — the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. This is the night time you log in your logbook.
- Night currency & position lights (§61.57(b), §91.209) — from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. Takeoffs and landings for night passenger currency must fall in this window, and position lights are required.
How the times are computed
The calculator uses the standard sunrise/sunset algorithm (accurate to about a minute at typical latitudes), with civil twilight at a solar zenith of 96°. Times are shown in your device's local time and in UTC (Zulu).
FAQ
Which night do I use for logging vs. currency?
Log night time using the civil-twilight window. For the 3 takeoffs and landings that keep you night-current to carry passengers, use the sunset+1hr to sunrise−1hr window.