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 Monday, January 26, 2009 at 09:40:00 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 14° 59' 52" longitude and in a northerly direction by 0° 00' 38" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 439.61 meters/second, 1582.6 km/hour, 983.4 miles/hour or 854.5 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Malawi - Zomba	Mon 11:40 AM	467 km	290 miles	252 nm	NW
Malawi - Lilongwe	Mon 11:40 AM	693 km	431 miles	374 nm	NW
Zimbabwe - Harare	Mon 11:40 AM	754 km	469 miles	407 nm	W
Comoros - Moroni	Mon 12:40 PM	950 km	590 miles	513 nm	NE
Madagascar - Antananarivo	Mon 12:40 PM	988 km	614 miles	534 nm	E
Mozambique - Maputo	Mon 11:40 AM	994 km	618 miles	537 nm	SW
Mayotte - Mamoutzou	Mon 12:40 PM	997 km	620 miles	539 nm	NE
Swaziland - Mbabane	Mon 11:40 AM	1115 km	693 miles	602 nm	SW
Zambia - Lusaka	Mon 11:40 AM	1117 km	694 miles	603 nm	WNW
South Africa - Pretoria	Mon 11:40 AM	1292 km	803 miles	698 nm	SW

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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