PHP 7.0.6 Released

    date_sunset

    (PHP 5, PHP 7)

    date_sunset — Returns time of sunset for a given day and location

    Description

    mixed date_sunset ( int $timestamp [, int $format = SUNFUNCS_RET_STRING [, float $latitude = ini_get("date.default_latitude") [, float $longitude = ini_get("date.default_longitude") [, float $zenith = ini_get("date.sunset_zenith") [, float $gmt_offset = 0 ]]]]] )

    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.

    format

    format constants
    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 integer (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

    Default: date.sunset_zenith

    gmtoffset

    Specified in hours.

    Errors/Exceptions

    Every call to a date/time function will generate a E_NOTICE if the time zone is not valid, and/or a E_STRICT or E_WARNING message if using the system settings or the TZ environment variable. See also date_default_timezone_set()

    Changelog

    Version Description
    5.1.0

    Now issues the E_STRICT and E_NOTICE time zone errors.

    Return Values

    Returns the sunset time in a specified format on success or FALSE on failure.

    Examples

    Example #1 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:

    Mon Dec 20 2004, sunset time : 18:13

    See Also

    • date_sunrise() - Returns time of sunrise for a given day and location

    User Contributed Notes

    michael at dayah dot com
    9 years ago
    I use an IP to location database to determine the visitor's approximate latitude and longitude and then serve them a day or night color scheme based on whether it is before civil dawn or dusk. I've had problems when not specifying the timezone, specifically a 1 hour error, so I use GMT.

    <?php
    date_default_timezone_set    ("GMT");

    function     scheme() {
                $sunrise = date_sunrise(time(), SUNFUNCS_RET_DOUBLE, $latitude, $longitude, 96, 0);
                $sunset = date_sunset(time(), SUNFUNCS_RET_DOUBLE, $latitude, $longitude, 96, 0);
                $now = date("H") + date("i") / 60 + date("s") / 3600;

            if (    $sunrise < $sunset)
                    if ((    $now > $sunrise) && ($now < $sunset)) return "day";
                    else return     "night";
            else
                    if ((    $now > $sunrise) || ($now < $sunset)) return "day";
                    else return     "night";
    }
    ?>
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