How to use Where the Sun Sets
Turn sky geometry into a practical astronomy-photography plan.
From an astronomy target to a field decision
Understand the geometry behind the shot
Use the foundation lessons when the direction, phase or light itself is the question. Then return to Viewer or Planner with a physical model for what is moving and why.
Planning the night sky
For twilight, the Milky Way or meteor showers, start with time and observing coordinates, then check solar altitude, darkness and Moon interference before choosing focal length and exposure.
Location and privacy
GPS coordinates are processed in your browser to set or verify the shooting position and are not sent to Where The Sun Sets servers. When the map is displayed or moved, map-tile requests are sent to the map provider, which can infer the approximate area being viewed from those requests.
Map, Sky Path and Planner do different jobs
Map shows ground bearings. Sky Path shows the Sun and Moon above the horizon. Planner compares an observer-to-target bearing with rise/set bearings. A bearing match is not a complete 3D line-of-sight or terrain-visibility solution.
What is a bearing?
Bearings start at north (0°) and increase clockwise: east 90°, south 180°, west 270°. The colored map rays show the bearing of each rise/set event.
Golden hour and blue hour
Golden hour happens while the sun is low and light is soft and directional. Blue hour is around twilight before sunrise or after sunset. These times are useful planning references, but weather and terrain still matter.
How do I plan a sun/moon landmark shot?
In Planner, set the observer to your camera position and the target to a landmark. The app calculates the target bearing and scans future sunrise, sunset, moonrise or moonset bearings for close matches.
Use Field Mode on location
Field Mode turns the plan into a live cockpit: current Sun/Moon sky summary, target bearing, nearby rise/set events, GPS position and device heading when the browser provides them. Unsupported sensors degrade gracefully; the astronomy plan remains usable.