Sun and moon rise and set times
The tables of moon and sun rise and set have been prepared by Maritime Safety Queensland using information from the National Mapping Division of Geoscience Australia.
The tables detail the times of the rise and set phenomena for an observer at sea level for the following tidal stations:
- Brisbane
- Gladstone
- Mackay
- Townsville
- Cairns
- Karumba
- Weipa.
The time of the rise and set varies from place to place. However for adjacent places the variation is small and as a result the entries in the table may be used for adjacent tidal stations. The following groupings are applicable:
- Brisbane representing Gold Coast Seaway, Brisbane Bar and Mooloolaba
- Gladstone representing Bundaberg, Gladstone, Port Alma and Rosslyn Bay
- Mackay representing Hay Point, Mackay, Shute Harbour, Bowen and Abbot Point
- Townsville and Lucinda
- Cairns representing Mourilyan, Cairns and Port Douglas
- Karumba representing Karumba and Mornington Island
- Weipa representing Weipa and Thursday Island.
- the grouping introduces an approximation which does not exceed 10 minutes
- atmospheric refraction that is different from the standard refraction
- the height of eye of the observer (above sea level), will affect the time at which the sun and moon appear to rise and set.
- Sun rise is defined as the instant in the morning under ideal meteorological conditions, with standard refraction of the sun's rays, when the upper edge of the sun's disk is coincident with an ideal horizon.
- Sun set is defined as the instant in the evening under ideal meteorological conditions, with standard refraction of the sun's rays, when the upper edge of the sun's disk is coincident with an ideal horizon.
- Moon rise is defined as the instant when, in the eastern sky, under ideal meteorological conditions, with standard refraction of the moon's rays, the upper edge of the moon's disk is coincident with an ideal horizon.
- Moon set is defined as the instant when, in the western sky, under ideal meteorological conditions, with standard refraction of the moon's rays, the upper edge of the moon's disk is coincident with an ideal horizon.
An ideal horizon exists when the surface forming the horizon is at a right angle to the vertical line passing through the observer's position on the earth. If the terrain surrounding the observer was flat and all at the same height above sea level, the horizon seen by the observer standing on the earth would approximate the ideal horizon.
Using the moon rise and set tables
The average time between the rising and setting of the moon is 12 hours 25 minutes. It follows that successive rises (or sets) of the moon will be 24 hours 50 minutes apart or in other words the moon will rise (or set) on average 50 minutes later each successive day of the year.
As a consequence of the above - unlike the sun which always rises in the morning and sets in the afternoon of the same day, the moon will frequently set on the day after it has risen. As a result:
- occasionally there is no entry in the table for the moon set time — this means that the moon is setting the next day
- occasionally there is no entry in the table for the moon rise time — this means that the moon rose on the previous day.
Downloads
- Moon rise and set times
2009 - Brisbane (PDF**, 58KB)
- Gladstone (PDF**, 57KB)
- Mackay (PDF**, 58KB)
- Townsville (PDF**, 58KB)
- Cairns (PDF**, 58KB)
- Karumba (PDF**, 58KB)
- Weipa (PDF**, 57KB)
- Brisbane (PDF**, 27KB)
- Gladstone (PDF**, 27KB)
- Mackay (PDF**, 27KB)
- Townsville (PDF**, 27KB)
- Cairns (PDF**, 27KB)
- Karumba (PDF**, 27KB)
- Weipa (PDF**, 29KB)
- Phases and apsides of the moon and seasons and apsides of the earth (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
- Times of sunrise and sunset for Queensland (PDF**, 79KB).
2008
2007
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Last updated 23 March 2009
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