Solar Info

This solar dashboard gives sunrise, sunset, length of daylight, seasonal onset, and solar position information for New Mexico. Note that the default location is set for central Albuquerque, but this can be changed via the marker on the map below or the dropdown menu beneath it.

The round clock face above represents a 24-hour period divided proportionally into daylight (light blue) and darkness (black) for today. The lone clock hand makes one revolution every 24 hours, showing the current time relative to sunrise, solar "noon", and sunset. Beneath the round clock face the daily progression of the sun is also represented on a sinusoidal curve. Note that solar "noon" occurs when the sun is at its highest elevation and at a 180 degree azimuth (angular measurement from true north).

The solar tracker above plots the sun's current location with regards to elevation angle (angular measurement above the earth's horizon) and the azimuth (angular measurement from true north). Assuming the sun is above the horizon, an observer at the origin, or center, of the graph would look in the compass direction of the azimuth and scan upward from the horizon to the indicated elevation angle to find the sun's current location.

The schematic above shows the onset date of the four seasons for earth's Northern Hemisphere and also where today's date falls with respect to those seasons.

Want to explore solar data outside of New Mexico? Check out the Global Solar Calculator from the Earth System Research Laboratories.

Disclaimer: The solar position data (and calculated times for sunrise, sunset, and solar noon) on this web page are for informational and recreational purposes only and should not be used for litigation.

The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) computes astronomical data. Therefore, the NWS does not record, certify, or authenticate astronomical data. Computed times of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset; and twilight, moon phases and other astronomical data are available from USNO’s Astronomical Applications Department (https://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications).