Shabbat Timing and Candle Lighting Calculator

Planning Friday Candle Lighting and Saturday Havdalah

This Shabbat timing calculator turns a place, a Friday date, and your community's minute customs into a practical sequence of local times. It estimates sunset on Friday, moves that time earlier for candle lighting, estimates sunset again on Saturday, and moves that second sunset later for havdalah. Keeping those four moments together makes it easier to plan preparation, meals, guests, travel, and reminders.

Sunset is not fixed by a city name alone. Latitude affects the changing length of daylight through the year, while longitude affects the relationship between solar time and the civil clock. The selected date matters for the sun's seasonal position, and the UTC offset determines how the estimate is displayed as local clock time. Candle-lighting and havdalah practices add a separate layer: the calculator treats them as the minute adjustments you choose rather than as a universal rule.

The result is an estimate based on simplified solar geometry. It does not add elevation, a local horizon profile, refined atmospheric effects, or an automatic time-zone lookup. That limitation is deliberate and visible: you supply the civil UTC offset, and the page shows how the chosen observance offsets change the sunset estimate. It is useful for checking a schedule or comparing customs, but it is not a substitute for a community calendar or rabbinic guidance.

Small differences from a synagogue bulletin or local calendar can therefore be expected. Another calendar may use a different astronomical method, a nearby reference point, elevation adjustments, another civil-time setting, or a distinct definition for havdalah. For an important observance schedule, verify the date, coordinate signs, and UTC offset here, then follow the calendar and authority used by your community.

Entering Location and Offsets for Shabbat Times

Begin the Shabbat time estimate with accurate latitude and longitude. Latitude identifies how far north or south the location is; longitude identifies how far east or west it is. These values allow the sunset calculation to react to the actual place and season instead of applying one generic sunset time. A reversed coordinate sign can put the calculation in the wrong hemisphere or on the wrong side of the globe.

Next, enter the UTC offset for the local civil clock on the Friday you selected. This calculator does not look up daylight saving time, so the entered number must already reflect the offset in force for that date. Half-hour offsets are accepted. The same offset is used for both Friday and Saturday results, which is normally appropriate for one Shabbat but should still be checked when civil-time rules are relevant.

The candle-lighting and havdalah fields are the observance choices. Candle-lighting minutes are subtracted from Friday sunset; havdalah minutes are added to Saturday sunset. They do not alter the solar estimate. Once the form is calculated, read the Friday sunset, candle-lighting time, Saturday sunset, and havdalah time as one connected schedule.

• Latitude: positive for north and negative for south; the sign affects the seasonal sunset pattern.
• Longitude: positive for east and negative for west; it shifts solar timing relative to the clock.
• UTC offset: use the local civil offset applicable to the selected Friday, including daylight saving time when applicable.
• Candle-lighting offset: the number of minutes before Friday sunset observed by your household or community.
• Havdalah offset: the number of minutes after Saturday sunset observed by your household or community.
• Shabbat date: choose the Friday that begins the Shabbat being planned.

After calculating Shabbat times, check the direction of every adjustment. Candle lighting should display earlier than Friday sunset by the selected number of minutes, and havdalah should display later than Saturday sunset by its selected number of minutes. If the output seems unexpected, first review the UTC offset, the signs on latitude and longitude, and the Friday date.

Sunset Offsets Used for Candle Lighting and Havdalah

This Shabbat timing calculator first estimates solar information for each date from latitude, longitude, date, and UTC offset. It derives a seasonal solar declination and equation-of-time adjustment, uses those values to estimate solar noon and the sunset hour angle, and converts the resulting sunset estimate into the local clock time selected by the UTC offset.

The observance part of the calculation is more direct. Friday candle lighting is the Friday sunset estimate less the candle-lighting offset, while Saturday havdalah is the Saturday sunset estimate plus the havdalah offset:

The offsets are entered in minutes, so the calculation divides each by 60 before combining it with a sunset time measured in hours. Friday and Saturday sunsets are estimated separately because the solar position changes between the two dates. The duration in the results panel runs from Friday candle lighting to Saturday havdalah, not from one sunset to the next.

The largest practical sources of change are location, season, the UTC offset, and the two community offsets. Increasing the candle-lighting offset moves only the Friday candle-lighting result earlier. Increasing the havdalah offset moves only the Saturday conclusion later. Changing the coordinates, Friday date, or UTC offset can affect both displayed sunset times, so those entries deserve the closest review.

Checking a Shabbat Timing Estimate

A useful way to interpret this Shabbat timing output is to trace each result back to its source. Friday sunset is the astronomical anchor for the candle-lighting calculation. The selected candle-lighting minutes determine how far before that anchor the practical Friday time appears. Saturday sunset is a new astronomical anchor, and the selected havdalah minutes determine the displayed conclusion time.

This distinction helps when comparing local customs. Changing a candle-lighting preference does not change the page's Friday sunset estimate; it only changes the time scheduled before sunset. Likewise, a different havdalah practice changes the conclusion time after Saturday sunset without changing Saturday's solar estimate. That makes the calculator useful for discussing several customs while holding the place and date constant.

Use seasonal context only as a reasonableness check. At many locations, summer dates tend to produce later sunsets and longer daylight than winter dates, but the exact pattern depends on latitude and hemisphere. The displayed Friday solar day length is calculated from the same simplified solar model, so it can help identify an obviously misplaced date or hemisphere without establishing an authoritative observance time.

Reading Friday and Saturday Shabbat Results

The Shabbat results panel separates the inputs' effects so you can audit the schedule. The coordinate and date entries identify the solar calculation. Friday sunset and Saturday sunset are its two daily anchors. Candle-lighting time and havdalah time show the applied community offsets, while the duration shows the span from the displayed Friday candle-lighting time through the displayed Saturday havdalah time.

For household planning, read the output in chronological order: candle lighting before Friday sunset, Saturday sunset, then havdalah after Saturday sunset. That order is also a quick diagnostic. A mistaken UTC offset changes the civil-clock presentation of both solar anchors, whereas an incorrect candle or havdalah offset affects one observance time on only one side of Shabbat.

Limits of This Shabbat Sunset Estimator

This Shabbat calculator provides a transparent sunset-and-offset estimate, not a universal halachic calendar. It applies the entered minute conventions directly to simplified Friday and Saturday sunset calculations. Understanding that boundary is important before using the result for a consequential schedule.

• Manual civil time: the page uses the UTC offset typed into the form and does not automatically determine time zones or daylight saving time.
• Different community customs: candle-lighting and havdalah intervals vary, and the appropriate choice is determined by local practice.
• High-latitude dates: when the simplified model cannot determine a normal sunset, the calculator reports that it cannot produce a result.
• Simplified solar model: the calculation does not include local elevation, an obstructed horizon, or more detailed atmospheric modeling.
• Friday-date input: the form interprets the chosen date as the Friday that begins Shabbat; choosing another date changes the schedule being estimated.

For ordinary planning, careful input and comparison with trusted local guidance make this tool a useful check of how place, season, and community offsets interact. For a final communal observance schedule, defer to the calendar or authority your community follows.