¿Cuánto dura la hora azul?

Entre 10 y 13 minutos según el mes. Es la ventana más corta del día: aproximadamente un cuarto de lo que dura la hora dorada.

¿La hora azul empieza al ponerse el sol?

No. Empieza unos veinte minutos después del ocaso, cuando el sol llega a cuatro grados por debajo del horizonte. Entre el ocaso y ese momento hay un hueco que no sirve ni para una cosa ni para la otra.

¿En qué se diferencia de la hora dorada?

En el color y en la duración. La dorada es luz de sol rasante sobre el sujeto y dura entre 35 y 43 minutos. La azul es luz de cielo sin sol, dura entre 10 y 13, y es la única franja en la que el cielo y las luces de la calle pesan lo mismo.

¿Cuándo es más larga?

En junio. En Madrid son 13 minutos en junio frente a 11 en septiembre y octubre. Al revés que la hora dorada, que es más larga en diciembre.

Journal — Mallorca · Ibiza · Madrid

Blue hour lasts twelve minutes in Mallorca, Ibiza and Madrid

Blue hour is the shortest window of the day. In Mallorca, Ibiza and Madrid it lasts between 10 and 13 minutes, and it does not start when the sun sets but some twenty minutes later.

10–13

minutes.
The shortest window

Own calculation · sun from −4° to −6° · Palma, Ibiza and Madrid

Madrid, 15 June, to scale. Between the two windows there are 20 minutes good for neither.

Model on Madrid's Gran Vía with the blue evening sky and traffic light trails — Callao, with the sky still blue and the street lights already on. That overlap lasts a little over ten minutes.

Blue hour is the band where the sun has already set but still lights the sky from below the horizon: between four and six degrees down. There the sky has a colour of its own and the street's artificial light weighs as much as it does. As soon as the sun drops past six degrees, the sky goes out and the city is left alone.

When it starts and how long it lasts, month by month

Local time on the 15th of each month, calculated the same way as golden hour.

Month	Palma			Ibiza			Madrid
	Starts	Ends	Lasts	Starts	Ends	Lasts	Starts	Ends	Lasts
January	18:07	18:18	11 min	18:13	18:24	11 min	18:30	18:41	11 min
February	18:42	18:52	11 min	18:47	18:58	11 min	19:06	19:17	11 min
March	19:11	19:22	10 min	19:16	19:27	10 min	19:37	19:47	11 min
April	20:43	20:54	11 min	20:47	20:57	11 min	21:09	21:20	11 min
May	21:14	21:26	12 min	21:17	21:29	12 min	21:42	21:54	12 min
June	21:38	21:50	13 min	21:40	21:53	13 min	22:06	22:19	13 min
July	21:35	21:47	12 min	21:38	21:50	12 min	22:03	22:16	13 min
August	21:04	21:15	11 min	21:07	21:18	11 min	21:31	21:42	11 min
September	20:15	20:26	10 min	20:20	20:30	10 min	20:41	20:52	11 min
October	19:27	19:38	10 min	19:33	19:43	10 min	19:52	20:03	11 min
November	17:52	18:03	11 min	17:58	18:09	11 min	18:16	18:27	11 min
December	17:45	17:56	12 min	17:51	18:03	11 min	18:08	18:19	12 min

The twenty minutes that belong to nobody

Model in the street with a golden sky just after sunset — The same day, twenty minutes earlier: the sky still golden and the city lights still weightless.

Between the sun touching the horizon and blue hour starting there are about twenty minutes that are neither one nor the other: the sky no longer gives directional light and can still beat the street lamps. It is the gap for moving location, changing the look or rigging the light for what comes next.

The blue window is a quarter of the golden one. Where golden hour gives between 35 and 43 minutes, blue hour gives between 10 and 13. Two ideas do not fit: one does, and you have to arrive with it decided and framed.

It is longer in June and shorter in September. In Madrid that is 13 minutes in June against 11 in September and October. Two minutes seem like nothing until they are 15% of what you had.

What happens before, with the sun still up, is in golden hour.

Frequently asked questions

How long does blue hour last?: Between 10 and 13 minutes depending on the month. It is the shortest window of the day: roughly a quarter of golden hour.
Does blue hour start when the sun sets?: No. It starts some twenty minutes after sunset, when the sun reaches four degrees below the horizon. Between sunset and that moment there is a gap good for neither.
How is it different from golden hour?: In colour and in length. Golden hour is low sunlight on the subject and lasts 35 to 43 minutes. Blue hour is skylight without sun, lasts 10 to 13, and is the only band where the sky and the street lights weigh the same.
When is it longest?: In June. In Madrid that is 13 minutes in June against 11 in September and October. The opposite of golden hour, which is longest in December.

If you are planning a shoot of fashion and editorial or product and you want the timing decided by someone who has already run the numbers, write to me: with the dates and the location I will tell you straight away what time to call.

And if you want to see the results, here are the projects y the rest of the journal.

Own calculation — solar position for Palma, Ibiza and Madrid