DPC Angles by City & Month

All values on this page are computed from pray-calc v2.0.0 getAngles() using the 15th of each month in 2025. These are DPC model predictions — not empirically measured angles — except where noted.

How to read these tables

Fajr angle: the solar depression angle (degrees below the geometric horizon) at which the DPC model predicts true dawn (al-Fajr al-Sadiq) begins. The NREL SPA then computes the exact local time when the Sun reaches this altitude.

Isha angle: the depression angle at which the DPC model predicts night (disappearance of redness from the western sky) begins. A indicates the Sun's minimum nocturnal altitude does not fall below the computed angle (summer perpetual twilight); Islamic authorities apply fallback rules in these cases.

Clipping: DPC outputs are clamped to [10°, 22°]. Values of 10.000 indicate the model computed a lower value that was clipped — this occurs at extreme latitudes in summer where the twilight physics produces angles below 10°. Real sky conditions at these times are ambiguous; the 10° floor represents the minimum physiologically meaningful "dark sky" threshold.

Fixed method reference:

  • ISNA: 15°/15° (North America)
  • MWL: 18°/17° (global default)
  • Egypt: 19.5°/17.5°
  • MUIS: 20°/18° (Malaysia/Singapore)

Northern Europe

Reykjavik, Iceland — 64.14°N, 21.90°W — elevation 18 m

At 64°N, summer sun barely grazes the horizon. Isha is unreachable for nearly the entire year. Fajr angles hit the 10° floor from April through September.

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan10.000°10.000°Clipped; minimum night depth near 10°
Feb11.423°10.000°
Mar11.355°10.000°
Apr10.000°10.000°Clipped both; perpetual civil twilight begins
May10.000°10.000°Midnight sun conditions approaching
Jun10.000°10.000°Midnight sun; no true night
Jul10.000°10.000°
Aug10.000°10.000°
Sep11.142°10.000°Night recovering
Oct11.688°10.000°
Nov10.345°10.000°
Dec10.000°10.000°Polar conditions; very short days

MWL (18°) is unreachable for Fajr from approximately April through October. Any MWL Fajr times computed for Reykjavik during this period rely on fallback rules, not actual angle computation.


Glasgow, UK — 55.86°N, 4.26°W — elevation 18 m

Glasgow's strong seasonal variation makes it a challenging case for fixed methods. The Birmingham OpenFajr validation set (Glasgow, 95 records, MAE 0.52°) closely tracks these DPC predictions.

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan13.397°12.333°Both methods within ~3° of MWL/ISNA
Feb14.234°12.552°
Mar13.988°11.831°
Apr13.172°10.000°Isha begins to clip
May11.029°10.000°Fajr drops sharply
Jun10.000°10.000°Near-midnight sun; no valid Isha
Jul10.187°10.000°
Aug12.541°10.000°
Sep13.916°11.108°
Oct14.439°12.481°Autumn convergence
Nov13.744°12.519°
Dec12.939°12.423°

MWL (18°) would be 4–6° above the DPC Fajr angle in summer — representing 25–45 minutes of systematic error.


London, UK — 51.51°N, 0.13°W — elevation 5 m

London is the latitude band best supported by empirical data (OpenFajr London validation: 180 records, MAE 0.44°).

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan14.747°13.849°
Feb15.605°13.738°Peak winter Fajr angle
Mar15.272°13.020°
Apr14.596°10.889°
May12.892°10.000°Isha clips
Jun11.796°10.000°
Jul12.334°10.000°
Aug14.047°10.000°
Sep15.124°12.254°
Oct15.606°13.744°Seasonal peak
Nov15.122°13.904°
Dec14.571°14.131°

ISNA (15°) and London DPC are within 1° for most of the year — the reason ISNA works well in the UK. In June, the DPC angle is 11.8° vs ISNA's 15°, producing ~20 minutes difference.


Mediterranean & Middle East

Istanbul, Turkey — 41.01°N, 28.98°E — elevation 100 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan17.470°16.552°
Feb17.995°16.298°
Mar17.751°15.539°
Apr17.466°13.658°
May16.428°12.063°
Jun16.083°12.289°Minimum; Isha remains valid
Jul16.240°12.178°
Aug17.253°12.884°
Sep17.728°14.868°
Oct18.086°16.203°Approaches MWL Fajr range
Nov17.890°16.590°
Dec17.498°16.955°

Istanbul's DPC Fajr averages ~17.2° — below the MWL 18° standard but close. The Turkish Diyanet uses 18°/17° (DIBT), which closely tracks DPC here.


Cairo, Egypt — 30.04°N, 31.24°E — elevation 23 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan19.031°18.191°
Feb19.624°18.112°
Mar19.394°17.469°
Apr19.164°15.979°
May18.616°14.507°
Jun18.603°14.827°
Jul18.594°14.663°
Aug19.227°15.213°
Sep19.489°16.974°
Oct19.694°17.963°
Nov19.409°18.347°
Dec18.960°18.545°

Egypt's DPC Fajr averages ~19.2° — the Egyptian standard (19.5°) is a close match. This confirms that the Egypt method was calibrated for this latitude band.


Mecca, Saudi Arabia — 21.39°N, 39.86°E — elevation 270 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan19.650°18.978°
Feb20.213°19.056°
Mar20.260°18.870°Peak Fajr angle
Apr20.065°17.646°
May19.687°16.244°
Jun19.630°16.387°
Jul19.642°16.307°
Aug20.083°16.884°
Sep20.210°18.382°
Oct20.286°19.122°Highest Fajr
Nov20.016°19.109°
Dec19.611°19.169°

At Mecca, DPC Fajr averages ~19.9°. The higher DPC values (~20°) suggest Umm al-Qura's 18.5° may set Fajr slightly late.


South Asia

Islamabad, Pakistan — 33.68°N, 73.05°E — elevation 508 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan18.866°18.057°
Feb19.280°17.826°
Mar19.040°16.991°
Apr18.883°15.487°
May18.309°13.973°
Jun18.117°14.183°
Jul18.195°14.073°
Aug18.862°14.716°
Sep19.099°16.497°
Oct19.354°17.690°
Nov19.050°18.027°
Dec18.774°18.374°

The Karachi method (18°/18°) is widely used in Pakistan. DPC Fajr averages ~18.8° — the Karachi Fajr angle of 18° is slightly low.


Dhaka, Bangladesh — 23.81°N, 90.41°E — elevation 8 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan19.410°18.748°
Feb19.977°18.839°
Mar20.005°18.415°
Apr19.746°16.956°
May19.282°15.746°
Jun19.340°16.032°
Jul19.203°15.786°
Aug19.728°16.406°
Sep19.937°17.924°
Oct20.048°18.676°
Nov19.778°18.885°
Dec19.365°18.929°

DPC Fajr for Dhaka averages ~19.7°. The MUIS standard (20°) is a closer match to DPC here than Karachi (18°).


Southeast Asia & Oceania

Jakarta, Indonesia — 6.21°S, 106.85°E — elevation 8 m

Near the equator, seasonal variation is small but measurable.

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan18.893°17.989°
Feb19.607°18.649°
Mar19.936°19.440°
Apr19.753°19.507°Highest Isha of year
May19.264°19.028°
Jun18.736°18.736°Minimum
Jul18.989°18.756°
Aug19.780°19.295°
Sep20.053°19.556°Highest Fajr of year
Oct20.007°19.277°
Nov19.296°18.145°
Dec18.828°17.721°

DPC Fajr for Jakarta averages ~19.5°. The MUIS standard (20°) is close.


Melbourne, Australia — 37.81°S, 144.96°E — elevation 32 m

Southern Hemisphere: seasons are inverted. Melbourne summer = December/January; Melbourne winter = June/July.

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan17.013°12.803°Southern summer
Feb18.045°13.615°
Mar18.310°15.466°Autumn transition
Apr18.545°16.768°
May18.238°17.073°
Jun17.994°17.615°Southern winter
Jul18.109°17.151°
Aug18.570°16.994°
Sep18.444°16.111°Spring transition
Oct18.249°14.498°
Nov17.452°13.004°
Dec17.037°13.111°

Melbourne's DPC Fajr averages ~18.1°, making MWL (18°) a reasonable fit for the annual average.


Africa

Nairobi, Kenya — 1.29°S, 36.82°E — elevation 1,795 m

Near the equator but at high elevation (1,795 m), Nairobi's pressure correction affects the refraction term slightly.

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan18.841°18.611°
Feb19.705°19.463°
Mar20.207°19.957°Both near maximum
Apr19.964°19.718°
May19.206°18.971°
Jun18.673°18.673°Minimum
Jul18.928°18.697°
Aug19.733°19.491°
Sep20.049°20.049°Maximum; very high
Oct20.077°19.831°
Nov19.218°18.984°
Dec18.582°18.355°

Nairobi shows some of the highest DPC Fajr values (up to 20.2°). MWL at 18° would place Fajr 1.5–2° early on average. MUIS (20°) is a close match for most of the year.


Southern Hemisphere

Johannesburg, South Africa — 26.20°S, 28.05°E — elevation 1,753 m

MonthFajrIshaNotes
Jan19.440°15.760°Southern summer
Feb19.960°16.485°
Mar20.107°17.912°
Apr20.186°18.841°
May19.960°19.083°
Jun19.623°19.195°Southern winter
Jul19.675°19.026°
Aug20.233°18.896°
Sep20.349°18.566°Highest Fajr
Oct20.328°17.164°
Nov19.644°15.829°
Dec19.497°15.963°

Johannesburg's DPC Fajr averages ~19.9° — the Egypt method (19.5°) is a reasonable proxy.


What the patterns show

Several global patterns emerge from these 12 cities:

1. Latitude drives seasonal variation

Cities above 40° latitude (Istanbul, London, Glasgow, Reykjavik) show dramatic month-to-month angle swings — up to 5–6° for Fajr and even larger for Isha. Cities near the equator (Jakarta, Nairobi) show much smaller variation, typically 1–2° across the year.

2. Tropical cities have higher angles

Cities between 25°S and 25°N consistently produce DPC Fajr angles in the 19–20° range. The 35–45°N band averages 17–18°. High latitudes (50°N+) average 13–15°. This means:

  • The MWL standard (18°) is a reasonable fit for mid-latitudes but too low for the tropics
  • The MUIS standard (20°) is well-calibrated for Southeast Asia and equatorial Africa
  • Neither standard is adequate for 50°N+ in summer

3. DPC and MSC are nearly identical

In all tables above, if you were to compute the MSC column it would differ from DPC by less than 5 minutes for most dates. Both methods track the same underlying physics — the difference is that DPC applies the Earth-Sun distance correction and smooth Fourier harmonics on top of the MSC seasonal base.

4. Fixed methods are appropriate for narrow latitude and season ranges

The Egypt method (19.5°) was calibrated for Cairo (30°N) and performs well there year-round. If you apply it to London (51.5°N), the summer error exceeds 30 minutes. Each method is only truly accurate for the latitude band and season it was calibrated against.

5. These are computed values, not empirically verified angles for each city

The Birmingham-latitude band (London, Glasgow) is the only region with empirical validation in the DPC training data. The Southern Hemisphere and tropical values are physics-based extrapolations. Where available, local Islamic authorities' established standards (validated by regional observation) should take precedence over DPC for official scheduling.

Was this page helpful?