See the sunlight before you go
Sun path planner for any location
Preview where the sun will be from a spot you have not visited. Choose a pin and a date, then explore its path against the terrain horizon.
Where will the sun be from this spot?
- Set the observer pin. Search for a place or enter coordinates, then move the pin to the camera position or viewpoint you want to check. You can plan remotely; location permission is not required.
- Choose the date. The date, time control and results use the pin’s local timezone.
- Follow the path in the 3D sky. Move the time control to see the sun’s direction and height against the skyline from that pin.
- Read the light at the observer. In “Light & Moon”, First direct sunlight and Last direct sunlight show when the sun’s centre clears the measured terrain and when a ridge hides it again. Expand “Full Sun & twilight details” to compare those terrain times with the flat-horizon astronomical times.
If the card says terrain is loading, partial or unavailable, its direct-sun result is an estimate or unconfirmed. Wait for “Terrain-adjusted” before treating the ridge crossing as computed from the full horizon.
Try a steep Alpine valley
The working example opens a pin on the floor of Lauterbrunnen valley on 23 September 2027. From that exact observer position, the committed desktop-detail terrain calculation puts first direct sun at 10:26 and last direct sun at 15:25 local time, even though the sun remains astronomically above a flat horizon outside that interval. Open the scene, move the time control around 15:25 and watch the western ridge take the sun.
Mobile uses a coarser terrain horizon, so its crossing time may differ from this desktop-detail example. Treat the time shown in your loaded observer as the result for that device.
Open the Lauterbrunnen example →
See the four-season Lauterbrunnen calculations, or read the mountain sunrise and sunset guide for how ridges change direct-light times.
Move the pin when the viewpoint changes
The pin is the observer. The sky view and terrain-adjusted times answer what someone standing at that coordinate can see, so another point in the same valley may have a different skyline and a different last-light time. Move the pin to test it, or use Compare spots for up to three positions on the same calendar date.
The calculation does not say when a distant mountain, building or person is lit. A subject can remain in sunlight after the observer is in shade.
Explore a terrain example
What the prediction covers
Heliora models the surrounding terrain horizon and the sun’s position at an observer pin. The scouting card uses the apparent sun centre crossing the terrain skyline. Standard sunrise tables usually refer to the upper edge of the sun, so the two definitions can differ even at sea level.
The terrain grid (roughly 100–300 metres at mid-latitudes, depending on device and zoom) cannot resolve every nearby wall, ledge or narrow gap. Mobile previews use a coarser horizon than the desktop examples. Trees, buildings, clouds and access permissions are not assessed by these scouting results. Numerical refinement to a minute does not imply one-minute field accuracy. A distant subject may be sunlit while your camera is in shade.
Read the calculation method and accuracy notes. Astronomy uses Astronomy Engine; terrain uses AWS terrain tiles. The examples below are computed predictions, not field observations.