Night or nighttime is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of sunrise and sunset. Moonlight, airglow, starlight, and light pollution dimly illuminate night. The duration of day, night, and twilight varies depending on the time of year and the latitude. Night on other celestial bodies is affected by their rotation and orbital periods. The planets Mercury and Venus have much longer nights than Earth. On Venus, night lasts 120 Earth days. The Moon's rotation is tidally locked, rotating so that the near side of the Moon always faces Earth. Nightfall across the near the side of the Moon results in the lunar phases visible from Earth.
Night sky over a bog in Estonia, with light pollution visible on the horizon
The drainage basin of the Nile river and delta at night
Sunset on Mars
Nocturnal insects drawn to an artificial light
Sunrise is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Sunrise on the Jersey Shore at Spring Lake, New Jersey, U.S.
Sunrise over the ocean in Taiwan
Sunrise in Lisbon seen from an airplane. Note refraction of colors by both the atmosphere and clouds.
Sunrise in Marengo and Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia