You’re standing there, phone in hand, looking at a screen that says the sun goes down in exactly four minutes. But you look out the window and the sky is already turning that bruised purple color. Or maybe it’s still bright enough to read a book without a lamp. Honestly, "at what time is the sunset today" is one of those questions that seems simple until you actually try to catch the moment the light disappears.
The truth is, today—Sunday, January 18, 2026—the sun is scheduled to dip below the horizon at 4:50 PM if you're hanging out in a place like Riverhead, New York. If you're in the heart of New York City, you've got a few extra minutes, with the official time landing at 4:56 PM. But those numbers are just the start of the story.
Physics is kinda weird.
The Sunset "Lie" You See Every Day
When you see the sun "touching" the horizon, it’s already gone. I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it’s just basic atmospheric refraction. Basically, the Earth's atmosphere acts like a giant, curved lens. It bends the light. By the time the bottom of the sun looks like it's resting on the ocean, the actual physical ball of gas is already about 34 arcminutes below the horizon.
You're looking at a ghost.
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This refraction doesn't just make for a cool optical illusion; it actually adds about two to four minutes of "extra" daylight to your day that shouldn't technically be there. If we didn't have an atmosphere, your "at what time is the sunset today" answer would be significantly earlier, and the transition to darkness would be jarringly fast. Instead, we get that slow, cinematic fade.
Why Today Feels Different Than Yesterday
We are currently in that post-solstice stretch where the days are finally clawing back some territory from the night. In mid-January, we're gaining about a minute and forty seconds of daylight every single day.
It adds up.
If you tracked the sunset today versus exactly one week ago, you’d notice the sun is staying up about 10 minutes longer. This isn't just about the Earth's tilt, though that's the big player. It’s also about our orbit. Since the Earth's path around the sun is an ellipse, not a perfect circle, we move faster when we're closer to the sun (perihelion) and slower when we're further away.
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Factors That Mess With Your Local Time
- Your Elevation: If you’re on the 50th floor of a skyscraper or the top of a hill, the sun sets later for you than for the person on the sidewalk. For every mile of altitude, you get about an extra minute of sun.
- The "Mountain" Effect: If you have a mountain range to your west, your "functional" sunset might happen 40 minutes before the official astronomical sunset.
- Atmospheric Pressure: On very cold, high-pressure days, the air is denser. Denser air bends light more aggressively. This can actually delay the perceived sunset by another minute or two compared to a warm, humid afternoon.
The Three Stages of "Dark"
Most people think once the sun hits the horizon, that’s it. Game over. But astronomers break this down into three distinct phases of twilight, and honestly, this is where the best light happens for photography or just clearing your head after work.
Civil Twilight is what we're in right after that 4:50 PM (or 4:56 PM) mark. It lasts about 30 minutes. The sun is less than 6 degrees below the horizon. You can still see clearly, terrestrial objects are distinct, and you don't really need streetlights yet.
Then comes Nautical Twilight. This is when the "blue hour" hits. The horizon becomes blurry, and sailors used to use this time to navigate via the stars because they could see both the stars and the horizon line at the same time.
Finally, you hit Astronomical Twilight. The sun is way down there—12 to 18 degrees below the horizon. To the average person, it looks pitch black, but for folks with high-end telescopes, there’s still a tiny bit of solar interference in the sky. It isn't "true" night until this phase ends.
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How to Actually Use This Information
If you're trying to plan a run, a photo shoot, or just want to know when to bring the dog in, don't just look at the one-sentence answer on Google.
Look at the clouds.
If you see high-altitude cirrus clouds (the wispy, horse-tail ones), you’re likely to get a spectacular "afterglow" about 15 to 20 minutes after the official sunset time. The sun, though hidden from your view, is still hitting those high clouds from underneath, turning them neon pink or deep orange. If the sky is totally clear and the air is dry, the sunset might feel a bit "thin" or clinical.
Actionable Steps for Today:
- Check your specific longitude: If you are on the western edge of your time zone (like in Michigan or West Texas), your sunset will be much later than someone on the eastern edge (like Maine or Eastern Massachusetts), even if you're at the same latitude.
- Plan for the 20-minute window: The "Golden Hour" actually peaks about 20 minutes before the official sunset time, while the "Blue Hour" begins about 10 minutes after.
- Account for "Local" obstacles: Use a compass app to see exactly where 243 degrees (Southwest) is from your porch. That’s where the sun is heading today. If there's a big oak tree or an apartment building in that line of sight, your personal sunset is happening earlier than the app says.
Understanding at what time is the sunset today isn't just about a clock—it's about how the light interacts with your specific slice of the world.