How to Estimate the Time Until Sunset Without a Watch

If you urgently need to know how much time is left until sunset, use these instructions. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t guarantee 100% accuracy, but it still helps you tell time without any gadgets.

5-Minute Crafts hopes that this method will help you quickly estimate how much time is left until sunset. It works best in the middle latitudes.

• Find a location where the horizon and the sun are clearly visible.
• Stretch your arms out in front of you toward the sun. Bend one wrist so that your palm is facing you, and your hand is horizontal, with the thumb on top. The sun should be on top of your index finger. Place the other outstretched arm below the first.
• Move your upper hand under the lower one and continue to move your hands down to the horizon, counting the number of palms. Keep your arms straight.
• Count how many fingers fit between the sun and the horizon. Each finger is approximately 15 minutes until sunset. In our example, we’ve got 12 fingers. We multiply their number by 15 minutes and we get 180 minutes, or 3 hours.

Despite the fact that the angular velocity, which stands for the speed and direction of the rotation of the Earth, is the same for all points on the planet: 360° (which is Earth’s rotation around its own axis) in 24 hours = 15 degrees per hour. But for each latitude, this manifests itself in different ways.