Flight Sun Map

How the Flight Sun Map works

Enter your departure and arrival airports, your travel date, and your departure time. The sun map calculates the sun's position at every point along your great-circle flight path, using your exact date and local time, and shows you a color-coded route on an interactive map.

What the map shows

Daylight segments

Sections of your flight where the sun is above the horizon. The map marks whether the sun is on the left or right side of the aircraft, so you know which window seat gets direct sunlight — or shade.

Sunrise & sunset (twilight)

When the sun is near the horizon, the map highlights dawn and dusk segments with a gradient. These are the moments you could see a sunrise or sunset from your window seat.

Night segments

Portions of your flight in full darkness, shown in dark blue. Night flying over the ocean or remote terrain can still offer views — city lights, moonlit clouds, and stars.

Northern Lights & Southern Lights

If your flight path crosses above 58°N or below 58°S during darkness, the map flags those segments as aurora-potential zones. The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) and Southern Lights (aurora australis) are most visible on routes to Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska, Canada, Patagonia, and New Zealand — the tool tells you which side of the plane faces the pole.

When to use the sun map

• Choosing a window seat — sit on the shady side for comfort, or the sunny side for golden-hour photography
• Planning for sunrise or sunset views — pick a departure time that places dawn or dusk mid-flight
• Northern Lights flights — check whether your route and schedule put you in darkness above 58°N
• Red-eye flights — see how much of your flight is in darkness and when sunrise will arrive