Bethesda, Maryland Sunset Time Today
Bethesda sunset and sunrise times, golden hour, blue hour, and how your daylight is changing
Bethesda, MD · Sunset & sunrise today
Sunset 7:07 PM Sunrise 6:55 AM
12h 12m of daylight, −3m shorter than yesterday.
Tomorrow in Bethesda · Tue, Sep 22
Sunrise tomorrow: 6:56 AM · Sunset tomorrow: 7:05 PM
Sunrise 1 minute later than today · sunset 2 minutes earlier than today
In Bethesda, the sun rises at 6:56 AM tomorrow and sets at 7:05 PM.
Golden hour & blue hour today
Morning
Golden hour6:55 AM – 7:31 AM
Blue hour6:29 AM – 6:55 AM
Evening
Golden hour6:34 PM – 7:07 PM
Blue hour7:07 PM – 7:36 PM
Golden hour: the sun between the horizon and 6° up. Blue hour: civil twilight, down to 6° below the horizon.
Sunrise time in Bethesda
The sun rises in Bethesda at 6:55 AM today and at 6:56 AM tomorrow (1 minute later than today).
First light comes before the sun itself: civil twilight — the blue-hour glow already bright enough to see by — begins at 6:29 AM.
For photographers, the morning golden hour — the warm, low-angle light until the sun climbs 6° — runs from 6:55 AM to 7:31 AM.
Sunrise & sunset this week
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6:55 AM | 7:07 PM | 12h 12m |
| Tue, Sep 22 | 6:56 AM | 7:05 PM | 12h 9m |
| Wed, Sep 23 | 6:57 AM | 7:03 PM | 12h 6m |
| Thu, Sep 24 | 6:58 AM | 7:02 PM | 12h 4m |
| Fri, Sep 25 | 6:58 AM | 7:00 PM | 12h 2m |
| Sat, Sep 26 | 6:59 AM | 6:58 PM | 11h 59m |
| Sun, Sep 27 | 7:00 AM | 6:57 PM | 11h 57m |
Bethesda daylight month by month
The 1st of each month in 2026, in local time.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7:28 AM | 4:57 PM | 9h 29m |
| Feb | 7:16 AM | 5:30 PM | 10h 14m |
| Mar | 6:42 AM | 6:01 PM | 11h 19m |
| Apr | 6:54 AM | 7:32 PM | 12h 38m |
| May | 6:11 AM | 8:01 PM | 13h 50m |
| Jun | 5:46 AM | 8:29 PM | 14h 43m |
| Jul | 5:47 AM | 8:39 PM | 14h 52m |
| Aug | 6:10 AM | 8:21 PM | 14h 11m |
| Sep | 6:38 AM | 7:41 PM | 13h 3m |
| Oct | 7:05 AM | 6:53 PM | 11h 48m |
| Nov | 6:36 AM | 5:09 PM | 10h 33m |
| Dec | 7:09 AM | 4:48 PM | 9h 39m |
Bethesda’s longest and shortest days
From 14h 54m of daylight on June 21, 2026 to 9h 26m on December 21, 2026.
| Solar landmark | Date (2026) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|
| Longest day | Jun 21 | 14h 54m |
| Spring equinox | Mar 20 | 12h 8m |
| Fall equinox | Sep 22 | 12h 10m |
| Shortest day | Dec 21 | 9h 26m |
How fast Bethesda gains and loses daylight
Daily rate at mid-month; net change across the month.
| Month | Daily rate | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | gaining 1m 25s a day | +45m |
| Feb | gaining 2m 21s a day | +1h 5m |
| Mar | gaining 2m 34s a day | +1h 19m |
| Apr | gaining 2m 25s a day | +1h 12m |
| May | gaining 1m 48s a day | +53m |
| Jun | gaining 21s a day | +9m |
| Jul | losing 1m 16s a day | −40m |
| Aug | losing 2m 13s a day | −1h 9m |
| Sep | losing 2m 30s a day | −1h 15m |
| Oct | losing 2m 27s a day | −1h 15m |
| Nov | losing 1m 53s a day | −54m |
| Dec | losing 25s a day | −10m |
Bethesda golden hour & blue hour by season
The same altitude-based windows as today’s card, at each solstice and equinox.
| Season | Evening gold | Evening blue | Morning gold | Morning blue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring equinox | 6:45–7:21 PM | 7:21–7:47 PM | 7:13–7:48 AM | 6:46–7:13 AM |
| Summer solstice | 7:58–8:38 PM | 8:38–9:10 PM | 5:44–6:24 AM | 5:12–5:44 AM |
| Fall equinox | 6:32–7:07 PM | 7:07–7:34 PM | 6:57–7:32 AM | 6:30–6:57 AM |
| Winter solstice | 4:08–4:50 PM | 4:50–5:20 PM | 7:25–8:07 AM | 6:54–7:25 AM |
Daylight saving time in Bethesda
Clocks move an hour; the daylight doesn’t change.
| Clock change | Date (2026) | UTC offset |
|---|---|---|
| Spring forward | Sun, Mar 8 | UTC−4 |
| Fall back | Sun, Nov 1 | UTC−5 |
Why sunset time shifts in Bethesda
Sunset drifts through the year with Earth’s ~23.4° axial tilt — see the full daylight explainer.
In Bethesda, the longest day carries about 14h 54m of daylight and the shortest just 9h 26m — a swing of roughly 5h 29m between the June and December solstices. The farther a place sits from the equator, the wider that gap; the pace also isn’t steady, moving fastest near the equinoxes and barely at all near the solstices. Every figure here is computed from the sun’s position for Bethesda’s exact coordinates, in local time.
Frequently asked
- When is the earliest and latest sunset in Bethesda?
- Bethesda's earliest sunset in 2026 is 4:47 PM around December 7, 14 days before the shortest day. The latest is 8:39 PM around June 27, 6 days after the longest day. Both are local clock times.
- How much daylight does Bethesda get on the longest and shortest days?
- Bethesda gets about 14h 54m of daylight on the longest day, June 21, 2026, and 9h 26m on the shortest, December 21, 2026: a swing of 5h 29m.
- When is golden hour in Bethesda?
- Near the June solstice, Bethesda's evening golden hour runs 7:58–8:38 PM and the morning one 5:44–6:24 AM. Near the December solstice they run 4:08–4:50 PM and 7:25–8:07 AM. Golden hour here is the time the sun spends between the horizon and 6° up.
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