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 07:28:00 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' 45" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 446.53 meters/second, 1607.5 km/hour, 998.9 miles/hour or 868.0 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Mauritius - Port Louis	Thu 11:28 AM	836 km	520 miles	452 nm	SW
Reunion (French) - Saint-Denis	Thu 11:28 AM	1056 km	656 miles	570 nm	SW
British Indian Ocean Territory - Diego Garcia	Thu 1:28 PM	1314 km	816 miles	710 nm	NE
Seychelles - Victoria	Thu 11:28 AM	1534 km	953 miles	828 nm	NW
Madagascar - Antananarivo	Thu 10:28 AM	1776 km	1104 miles	959 nm	WSW
Mayotte - Mamoutzou	Thu 10:28 AM	2040 km	1268 miles	1102 nm	W
Comoros - Moroni	Thu 10:28 AM	2271 km	1411 miles	1226 nm	W
Maldives - Male	Thu 12:28 PM	2640 km	1640 miles	1425 nm	NNE
Somalia - Mogadishu	Thu 10:28 AM	2835 km	1761 miles	1531 nm	NW
Tanzania - Dar es Salaam	Thu 10:28 AM	2857 km	1775 miles	1543 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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