Day and Night World Map

The map below shows the current position of the Sun and indicates which parts of the Earth are in day and which are in night.

Map notes

• The day and night parts of the Earth shown are as of Friday, May 9, 2008 at 14:18:00 UTC.
• The Sun's position is marked with this symbol:. At this location, the Sun will be at its zenith (directly overhead) in relation to an observer.
• The Moon's position is marked with this symbol:. At this location, the Moon will be at its zenith in relation to an observer. Note that the symbol is not showing the current phase of the Moon.
• Different shades of darkness are used to indicate night; these shades are in order from lightest to darkest:
  • Civil Twilight (lightest shade)
  • Nautical Twilight
  • Astronomical Twilight
  • Night, no twilight (darkest)
• Latitude circles
  • NPC – Northern Polar Circle, or Arctic Circle, is at latitude 66°34' N. At locations north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun is visible all day and night during a period before and after the June solstice.
  • NT – Northern Tropic, or Tropic of Cancer, is at latitude 23°26' N and is the northernmost latitude at which the Sun can be directly overhead (this occurs during June solstice, around June 21).
  • ST – Southern Tropic, or Tropic of Capricorn, is at latitude 23°26' S S and is the southernmost latitude at which the Sun can be directly overhead (this occurs during solstice, around December 21).
  • SPC – Southern Polar Circle, or Antarctic Circle, is at latitude 66°34' S. South of this latitude, the Sun is visible all day and night during summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Map is generated based on images from NASA

Position of the Sun

During the next hour, the Sun's position relative to Earth's surface will move in an westerly direction by 15° 00' 01" longitude and in a northerly direction by 0° 00' 39" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 442.36 meters/second, 1592.5 km/hour, 989.5 miles/hour or 859.9 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Cape Verde - Praia	Fri 1:18 PM	1302 km	809 miles	703 nm	EbS
Senegal - Dakar	Fri 2:18 PM	1945 km	1209 miles	1050 nm	EbS
Mauritania - Nouakchott	Fri 2:18 PM	2059 km	1279 miles	1112 nm	E
Gambia - Banjul	Fri 2:18 PM	2060 km	1280 miles	1112 nm	EbS
Guinea-Bissau - Bissau	Fri 2:18 PM	2215 km	1377 miles	1196 nm	EbS
Spain - Canary Islands - Santa Cruz *	Fri 3:18 PM	2299 km	1429 miles	1242 nm	NEbE
France - French Guiana - Cayenne	Fri 11:18 AM	2313 km	1437 miles	1249 nm	SWbW
Spain - Canary Islands - Las Palmas *	Fri 3:18 PM	2353 km	1462 miles	1270 nm	NEbE
Brazil - Piauí - Parnaíba	Fri 11:18 AM	2376 km	1476 miles	1283 nm	SSW
Brazil - Ceará - Fortaleza	Fri 11:18 AM	2383 km	1481 miles	1287 nm	SbW

Related links

• Sunrise Calculator – find times for sunrise, sunset and more
• Moon Calculator – find times for moonrise, moonset and more
• Moon Phase Calculator – Calculate Moon Phases for any year

Related time zone tools

• The World Clock – current times around the world
• Personal World Clock – shows just the cities you need
• Meeting Planner – find a suitable time for an international meeting
• Time Zone Converter – If it's 3 pm in New York, what time is it in Sydney?
• Fixed Time Calculator – If it's 3 pm in New York, what time is it in the rest of the world?