Day and Night World Map

The map below shows the current position of the Sun and the Moon. It shows which parts of the Earth are in daylight and which are in night.

See where the moon is over the horizon

Map notes

• The day and night parts of the Earth shown are as of Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 14:00:00 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 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

On Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 14:00:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	12° 25'	South
Longitude:	26° 45'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 453.08 meters/second, 1631.1 km/hour, 1013.5 miles/hour or 880.7 knots.The table below shows the Sun position compared to the time and date above:

Time	Longitude difference			Latitude difference			Total
later	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Distance
1 minute	0° 15' 00.0"	16.89 mi	west	0° 00' 00.9"	0.02 mi	north	16.89 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 02.0"	1013.45 mi	west	0° 00' 51.8"	0.99 mi	north	1013.48 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 55.8"	1.05 mi	west	0° 20' 51.9"	23.91 mi	north	23.93 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 14:00:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 16'	South
Longitude:	95° 33'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 412.86 meters/second, 1486.3 km/hour, 923.5 miles/hour or 802.5 knots.The table below shows the Moon position compared to the time and date above:

Time	Longitude difference			Latitude difference			Total
later	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Distance
1 minute	0° 14' 25.2"	15.39 mi	west	0° 00' 00.8"	0.01 mi	north	15.39 mi
1 hour	14° 25' 13.1"	923.26 mi	west	0° 00' 50.6"	0.97 mi	north	923.30 mi
24 hours	13° 45' 02.7"	880.42 mi	east	0° 58' 11.0"	66.72 mi	north	885.94 mi

Locations with the Sun near zenith

The following table shows 10 locations with Sun near zenith position in the sky.

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Recife	Thu 11:00 AM	1010 km	627 miles	545 nm	WNW
Salvador *	Thu 12:00 Noon	1275 km	792 miles	689 nm	W
Fortaleza	Thu 11:00 AM	1617 km	1004 miles	873 nm	NW
Rio de Janeiro *	Thu 12:00 Noon	2095 km	1302 miles	1131 nm	SW
Jamestown	Thu 2:00 PM	2303 km	1431 miles	1244 nm	ESE
Brasilia *	Thu 12:00 Noon	2311 km	1436 miles	1248 nm	WSW
São Paulo *	Thu 12:00 Noon	2436 km	1514 miles	1315 nm	WSW
Belém	Thu 11:00 AM	2686 km	1669 miles	1450 nm	WNW
Monrovia	Thu 2:00 PM	2721 km	1691 miles	1469 nm	NE
Freetown	Thu 2:00 PM	2753 km	1710 miles	1486 nm	NNE