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 Sunday, March 23, 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 463.80 meters/second, 1669.7 km/hour, 1037.5 miles/hour or 901.6 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Brazil - Roraima - Boa Vista	Sun 12:16 PM	249 km	155 miles	134 nm	NE
Brazil - Amazonas - Manaus	Sun 12:16 PM	560 km	348 miles	302 nm	SSE
Guyana - Georgetown	Sun 12:16 PM	760 km	472 miles	410 nm	NE
Venezuela - Ciudad Guayana	Sun 11:46 AM	776 km	482 miles	419 nm	N
Suriname - Paramaribo	Sun 1:16 PM	938 km	583 miles	507 nm	ENE
Venezuela - Cumaná	Sun 11:46 AM	1029 km	639 miles	556 nm	N
Trinidad and Tobago - Port of Spain	Sun 12:16 PM	1030 km	640 miles	556 nm	N
Brazil - Rondônia - Pôrto Velho	Sun 12:16 PM	1130 km	702 miles	610 nm	S
Venezuela - Caracas	Sun 11:46 AM	1131 km	703 miles	611 nm	NNW
Venezuela - Maracay	Sun 11:46 AM	1141 km	709 miles	616 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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