# Sun Path in the Sky Today: 3D Sky View | SunCast

Follow the Sun’s path across the sky for any place and date: where it rises, how high it climbs and where it sets, in 3D. Plus the planets after dark. Free.

Canonical HTML: https://suncastapp.com/tools/sky-view
Last updated: 2026-10-28

## Direct Answer

The SunCast sky view plays a full day in a 3D sky for any place and date: the Sun’s path from sunrise to sunset, which compass direction to face, how high it climbs and when the light turns golden or blue. Bright planets appear at their real positions after dark. It is free and runs in the browser.

## Key Facts
- Sunrise, sunset, the noon height and the light phases use the same calculation as the SunCast Sun Times tool. The 3D sky, the live height on the timeline and the planets are placed with Astronomy Engine. Both use the chosen coordinates and the location’s time zone, from local midnight to midnight.
- The orange path marks each hour while the Sun is above the horizon. The timeline marks sunrise, solar noon and sunset.
- Light phases use the Sun Times thresholds: golden hour from sunrise to 6 degrees, blue hour from −4 to −8 degrees and night below −18 degrees.
- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are shown at their real positions once the sky is dark enough for each. The Moon is not shown.
- The page lists the bright planets standing at least 5 degrees high once the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon on the chosen night, with their times, compass direction and highest point.
- The Sun is drawn twice its apparent size. The hills, sky colour and background stars are illustrations, not a model of buildings, terrain or weather.
- Links accept lat, lng, date (YYYY-MM-DD), t (share of the local day from midnight to midnight, 0 to 1, counting real elapsed time on clock-change days) and an optional place label, for example /tools/sky-view?lat=51.50740&lng=-0.12780&date=2026-06-21&t=0.8750&place=London. Without date and t the view shows the present moment.
- The SunCast iPhone app draws the same sun path over Street View panoramas, where Street View has coverage, and over the live camera in AR.

## Common Uses
- Follow the Sun’s path across the sky for a chosen place and date.
- See which way to face for sunrise or sunset and how high the Sun climbs at noon.
- Compare the Sun’s path between summer and winter.
- Check which bright planets are up after dark.

## FAQ

### How high does the Sun get today?

The sidebar gives the Sun’s highest point on the chosen date and the time it is reached, close to solar noon. Move the timeline to read its height at any other moment, and change the date to see how much lower it stays in winter. To see its direction over a map, use the Sun Calculator.

### What path does the Sun take across the sky today?

The orange line traces it from sunrise to sunset, with a dot for each hour. Change the date to compare seasons: in summer the path rises higher and starts and ends further north in the northern hemisphere, and further south in the southern hemisphere.

### Which planets can I see tonight?

Move the timeline past dusk. The sky view places Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn at their real positions for the date and place and shows each one once the sky is dark enough, so Venus and Jupiter usually appear first.

### Why is the Sun lower in the sky in winter?

Earth’s axis is tilted by about 23.4°, so the Sun’s noon height changes by about 47° through the year. In winter your hemisphere leans away from the Sun: the path is short and low, and sunrise and sunset move towards the equator side of east and west. Change the date in the sky view to compare a day in June with one in December.

### Can I see the Sun’s path over my own street?

Not in the browser, where the horizon is illustrated. The SunCast app for iPhone and iPad draws the path over a Street View panorama, wherever Street View has coverage, and over your camera in AR, so you can check the light at a home, garden or photo spot before you go.