date_sunset

This function has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 8.1.0. Relying on this function is highly discouraged. Use date_sun_info() instead.

Description

date_sunset() returns the sunset time for a given day (specified as a timestamp) and location.

Parameters

timestamp

The timestamp of the day from which the sunset time is taken.

returnFormat

constant	description	example
SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING	returns the result as string	16:46
SUNFUNCS_RET_DOUBLE	returns the result as float	16.78243132
SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP	returns the result as int (timestamp)	1095034606

latitude

Defaults to North, pass in a negative value for South. See also: date.default_latitude

longitude

Defaults to East, pass in a negative value for West. See also: date.default_longitude

zenith

zenith is the angle between the center of the sun and a line perpendicular to earth's surface. It defaults to date.sunset_zenith

Angle	Description
90°50'	Sunset: the point where the sun becomes invisible.
96°	Civil twilight: conventionally used to signify the end of dusk.
102°	Nautical twilight: the point at which the horizon ends being visible at sea.
108°	Astronomical twilight: the point at which the sun ends being the source of any illumination.

utcOffset

Specified in hours. The utcOffset is ignored, if returnFormat is SUNFUNCS_RET_TIMESTAMP.

Return Values

Returns the sunset time in a specified returnFormat on successFalseforfailure. One potential reason for failure is that the sun does not set at all, which happens inside the polar circles for part of the year.

Errors/Exceptions Description

Changelog

Examples

date_sunset() example

<?php

/* calculate the sunset time for Lisbon, Portugal
Latitude: 38.4 North
Longitude: 9 West
Zenith ~= 90
offset: +1 GMT
*/

echo date("D M d Y"). ', sunset time : ' .date_sunset(time(), SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING, 38.4, -9, 90, 1);

The above example will output something similar to:

Deprecated: Constant SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING is deprecated in script on line 10
Deprecated: Function date_sunset() is deprecated since 8.1, use date_sun_info() instead in script on line 10
Mon Dec 20 2004, sunset time : 18:13

No sunset

<?php
$solstice = strtotime('2017-12-21');
var_dump(date_sunset($solstice, SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING, 69.245833, -53.537222));

The above example will output:

Deprecated: Constant SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING is deprecated in script on line 3
Deprecated: Function date_sunset() is deprecated since 8.1, use date_sun_info() instead in script on line 3
bool(false)

See Also

• date_sun_info()