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 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 21:42:00 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 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 21:42:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	5° 14'	South
Longitude:	143° 01'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 461.98 meters/second, 1663.1 km/hour, 1033.4 miles/hour or 898.0 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' 00.1"	17.22 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.22 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 08.9"	1033.47 mi	west	0° 00' 58.3"	1.11 mi	north	1033.49 mi
24 hours	0° 03' 39.0"	4.19 mi	west	0° 23' 22.0"	26.76 mi	north	27.09 mi

Position of the Moon

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 21:42:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	8° 02'	North
Longitude:	16° 21'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 443.58 meters/second, 1596.9 km/hour, 992.3 miles/hour or 862.3 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' 29.0"	16.54 mi	west	0° 00' 12.4"	0.24 mi	south	16.54 mi
1 hour	14° 29' 05.8"	992.17 mi	west	0° 12' 29.4"	14.31 mi	south	992.53 mi
24 hours	12° 23' 47.3"	849.13 mi	east	5° 13' 06.8"	358.61 mi	south	925.68 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
Taiohae	Tue 12:12 PM	569 km	353 miles	307 nm	SE
Papeete	Tue 11:42 AM	1536 km	954 miles	829 nm	SSW
Kiritimati	Wed 11:42 AM	1776 km	1104 miles	959 nm	WNW
Rarotonga	Tue 11:42 AM	2531 km	1573 miles	1367 nm	SW
Adamstown	Tue 1:42 PM	2591 km	1610 miles	1399 nm	SSE
Fakaofo	Wed 10:42 AM	3149 km	1956 miles	1700 nm	W
Apia *	Wed 11:42 AM	3294 km	2047 miles	1778 nm	WSW
Alofi	Tue 10:42 AM	3295 km	2047 miles	1779 nm	WSW
Honolulu	Tue 11:42 AM	3355 km	2084 miles	1811 nm	NNW
Baker Island	Tue 9:42 AM	3769 km	2342 miles	2035 nm	W