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, November 5, 2009 at 00:28:00 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 14° 59' 59" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 46" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 446.72 meters/second, 1608.2 km/hour, 999.3 miles/hour or 868.4 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Vanuatu - Port Vila	Thu 11:28 AM	238 km	148 miles	129 nm	SSW
France - New Caledonia - Noumea	Thu 11:28 AM	776 km	482 miles	419 nm	SSW
Fiji - Suva	Thu 12:28 PM	1050 km	652 miles	567 nm	ESE
Solomon Islands - Honiara	Thu 11:28 AM	1163 km	722 miles	628 nm	NW
Tuvalu - Funafuti	Thu 12:28 PM	1372 km	853 miles	741 nm	NE
Norfolk Island - Kingston	Thu 11:58 AM	1486 km	923 miles	802 nm	S
Wallis and Futuna - Mata-Utu	Thu 12:28 PM	1630 km	1013 miles	880 nm	E
Nauru - Yaren	Thu 12:28 PM	1687 km	1048 miles	911 nm	N
Tonga - Nukualofa	Thu 1:28 PM	1784 km	1109 miles	963 nm	ESE
Kiribati - Tarawa	Thu 12:28 PM	1941 km	1206 miles	1048 nm	NNE

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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