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 01:18:00 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 446.70 meters/second, 1608.1 km/hour, 999.2 miles/hour or 868.3 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Solomon Islands - Honiara	Thu 12:18 PM	794 km	493 miles	429 nm	NNE
Australia - Queensland - Mackay	Thu 11:18 AM	973 km	605 miles	526 nm	SW
Australia - Queensland - Rockhampton	Thu 11:18 AM	1053 km	654 miles	569 nm	SW
Australia - Queensland - Townsville	Thu 11:18 AM	1093 km	679 miles	590 nm	WSW
Australia - Queensland - Bundaberg	Thu 11:18 AM	1101 km	684 miles	594 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Hervey Bay	Thu 11:18 AM	1126 km	700 miles	608 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Cairns	Thu 11:18 AM	1149 km	714 miles	621 nm	W
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby	Thu 11:18 AM	1217 km	756 miles	657 nm	WNW
Australia - Queensland - Sunshine Coast	Thu 11:18 AM	1268 km	788 miles	684 nm	SSW
France - New Caledonia - Noumea	Thu 12:18 PM	1285 km	799 miles	694 nm	SE

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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