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 Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 01:28:00 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 southerly direction by 0° 00' 57" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 461.50 meters/second, 1661.4 km/hour, 1032.4 miles/hour or 897.1 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Solomon Islands - Honiara	Thu 12:28 PM	710 km	441 miles	383 nm	SE
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby	Thu 11:28 AM	948 km	589 miles	512 nm	WSW
Nauru - Yaren	Thu 1:28 PM	1459 km	907 miles	788 nm	ENE
Micronesia - Ponape - Palikir	Thu 12:28 PM	1460 km	907 miles	788 nm	NNE
Micronesia - Truk - Weno	Thu 11:28 AM	1514 km	941 miles	818 nm	NNW
Micronesia - Kosrea - Lelu	Thu 12:28 PM	1529 km	950 miles	825 nm	NE
Micronesia - Ponape - Kolonia	Thu 12:28 PM	1536 km	955 miles	830 nm	NNE
Australia - Queensland - Cairns	Thu 11:28 AM	1574 km	978 miles	850 nm	SW
Indonesia - Papua - Jayapura	Thu 10:28 AM	1629 km	1012 miles	880 nm	WNW
Australia - Queensland - Townsville	Thu 11:28 AM	1718 km	1068 miles	928 nm	SSW

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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