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 Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 15:16:00 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 463.87 meters/second, 1669.9 km/hour, 1037.6 miles/hour or 901.7 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Brazil - Para - Belém	Sat 12:16 PM	295 km	183 miles	159 nm	SSW
Brazil - Amapá - Macapá	Sat 12:16 PM	429 km	267 miles	232 nm	WSW
Brazil - Maranhão - São Luis	Sat 12:16 PM	515 km	320 miles	278 nm	SE
French Guiana - Cayenne	Sat 12:16 PM	707 km	439 miles	382 nm	NW
Brazil - Piauí - Parnaíba	Sat 12:16 PM	754 km	468 miles	407 nm	SE
Brazil - Piauí - Teresina	Sat 12:16 PM	842 km	523 miles	455 nm	SE
Brazil - Tocantins - Araguaína	Sat 12:16 PM	905 km	563 miles	489 nm	S
Brazil - Ceará - Sobral	Sat 12:16 PM	934 km	580 miles	504 nm	SE
Suriname - Paramaribo	Sat 12:16 PM	1035 km	643 miles	559 nm	WNW
Brazil - Ceará - Fortaleza	Sat 12:16 PM	1101 km	684 miles	595 nm	ESE

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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