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 02:28:00 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 446.67 meters/second, 1608.0 km/hour, 999.2 miles/hour or 868.3 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Australia - Queensland - Cairns	Thu 12:28 PM	740 km	460 miles	399 nm	E
Australia - Queensland - Townsville	Thu 12:28 PM	926 km	575 miles	500 nm	ESE
Australia - Northern Territory - Darwin	Thu 11:58 AM	940 km	584 miles	508 nm	WNW
Australia - Northern Territory - Alice Springs	Thu 11:58 AM	1032 km	642 miles	557 nm	SSW
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby	Thu 12:28 PM	1124 km	698 miles	607 nm	NE
Australia - Queensland - Mackay	Thu 12:28 PM	1243 km	772 miles	671 nm	ESE
Australia - Northern Territory - Uluru	Thu 11:58 AM	1347 km	837 miles	728 nm	SW
Indonesia - Papua - Jayapura	Thu 11:28 AM	1474 km	916 miles	796 nm	N
Australia - Queensland - Rockhampton	Thu 12:28 PM	1485 km	923 miles	802 nm	SE
Timor-Leste - Dili	Thu 11:28 AM	1648 km	1024 miles	890 nm	WNW

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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