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, March 21, 2008 at 16:16:00 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 December 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' 11" longitude and in a northerly direction by 0° 00' 59" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 463.91 meters/second, 1670.1 km/hour, 1037.7 miles/hour or 901.8 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Brazil - Roraima - Boa Vista	Fri 12:16 PM	304 km	189 miles	164 nm	NNE
Brazil - Amazonas - Manaus	Fri 12:16 PM	476 km	296 miles	257 nm	SSE
Guyana - Georgetown	Fri 12:16 PM	821 km	510 miles	443 nm	NNE
Venezuela - Ciudad Guayana	Fri 11:46 AM	864 km	537 miles	466 nm	N
Suriname - Paramaribo	Fri 1:16 PM	974 km	605 miles	526 nm	NE
Brazil - Rondônia - Pôrto Velho	Fri 12:16 PM	1047 km	650 miles	565 nm	S
Trinidad and Tobago - Port of Spain	Fri 12:16 PM	1116 km	693 miles	603 nm	N
Venezuela - Cumaná	Fri 11:46 AM	1118 km	695 miles	604 nm	N
French Guiana - Cayenne	Fri 1:16 PM	1205 km	749 miles	651 nm	ENE
Venezuela - Caracas	Fri 11:46 AM	1217 km	756 miles	657 nm	NNW

Astronomy calculators

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

More information

• September Equinox
• December Solstice
• Vernal Equinox
• June Solstice

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