Twilight

Twilight means either dawn or dusk when the Sun is below the horizon but still lights the sky.

In the morning, dawn is when it is not dark any more, and the light of the sun is just starting to appear, before sunrise. In the evening, it is the other way around and that phenomenon is called dusk. At sunset, the sun disappears, and darkness is settling in. Light fades away.

The following have been defined:

• Civil twilight is when the sun is less than 6deg below the horizon. It ends at sunrise in the morning or follows sunset in the evening.
• Nautical twilight is when the sun is between 6deg and 12deg below the horizon.
• Astronomical twilight is when the sun is between 12deg and 18deg below the horizon.

For all these definitions, the horizon is at sea level.

• Aurora (mythology)
• Eos

• Definition of Twilight Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, US Naval Observatory
• Twilight time calculator Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Formulae to calculate twilight duration Archived 2008-09-15 at the Wayback Machine, by Herbert Glarner