Which side of the plane for the sunrise?
SkyDot tells you how long until sunrise or sunset and which side of the aircraft to look out of, working from your live position and heading. Times are corrected for altitude: sunrise arrives earlier and sunset later at 38,000 feet than for anyone on the ground below you.
Altitude changes the time
The higher you are, the further over the horizon you can see, so the sun rises earlier and sets later than the times published for the ground beneath you. A ground-based sunset time is the wrong answer in a window seat, sometimes by many minutes.
And your heading decides the side
Knowing sunset is in 36 minutes is only half of it. SkyDot combines the sun's bearing with the aircraft heading from your GPS track and tells you which side to look out of. That helps when you are picking a seat, and again once you are in it.
- Example
- Sunrise in 36 min — look right
- Works offline
- Yes
Questions
Which side of the plane is best for sunset?
It depends on your route and the time of day, not a fixed rule. On a westbound flight the sun tracks ahead of you; on a north-south route it will be off one wing for most of the flight. SkyDot computes it from your actual heading and position.
Does the sun almanac need a connection?
No. Sun position is calculated from your coordinates, altitude and the time, all of which the phone already has offline.