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 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 21:22:00 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 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 21:22:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	4° 51'	South
Longitude:	138° 04'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 462.26 meters/second, 1664.1 km/hour, 1034.0 miles/hour or 898.6 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"	17.24 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.24 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 09.2"	1034.09 mi	west	0° 00' 58.5"	1.12 mi	north	1034.10 mi
24 hours	0° 03' 44.4"	4.30 mi	west	0° 23' 25.7"	26.83 mi	north	27.18 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 21:22:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	2° 54'	North
Longitude:	33° 34'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 447.27 meters/second, 1610.2 km/hour, 1000.5 miles/hour or 869.4 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' 28.8"	16.67 mi	west	0° 00' 13.5"	0.26 mi	south	16.68 mi
1 hour	14° 28' 51.9"	1000.46 mi	west	0° 13' 30.5"	15.47 mi	south	1000.68 mi
24 hours	12° 33' 00.0"	867.05 mi	east	5° 28' 32.1"	376.24 mi	south	945.87 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	Wed 11:52 AM	485 km	301 miles	262 nm	SSW
Papeete	Wed 11:22 AM	1880 km	1168 miles	1015 nm	SW
Kiritimati	Thu 11:22 AM	2268 km	1409 miles	1224 nm	WNW
Adamstown	Wed 1:22 PM	2393 km	1487 miles	1292 nm	SSE
Rarotonga	Wed 11:22 AM	2963 km	1841 miles	1600 nm	SW
Honolulu	Wed 11:22 AM	3611 km	2244 miles	1950 nm	NW
Fakaofo	Thu 10:22 AM	3696 km	2296 miles	1995 nm	W
Alofi	Wed 10:22 AM	3797 km	2359 miles	2050 nm	WSW
Apia *	Thu 11:22 AM	3828 km	2378 miles	2067 nm	WSW
Easter Island *	Wed 4:22 PM	3918 km	2435 miles	2116 nm	SE