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, March 8, 2012 at 17:54:00 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, March 8, 2012 at 17:54:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	4° 31'	South
Longitude:	86° 07'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 462.48 meters/second, 1664.9 km/hour, 1034.5 miles/hour or 899.0 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"	17.24 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.24 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 09.4"	1034.59 mi	west	0° 00' 58.5"	1.12 mi	north	1034.60 mi
24 hours	0° 03' 48.9"	4.39 mi	west	0° 23' 28.7"	26.89 mi	north	27.25 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 17:54:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	1° 47'	South
Longitude:	96° 17'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 447.40 meters/second, 1610.6 km/hour, 1000.8 miles/hour or 869.7 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' 28.4"	16.68 mi	west	0° 00' 13.7"	0.26 mi	south	16.68 mi
1 hour	14° 28' 24.4"	1000.72 mi	west	0° 13' 45.1"	15.75 mi	south	1000.78 mi
24 hours	12° 47' 17.5"	884.20 mi	east	5° 25' 33.6"	372.86 mi	south	957.19 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
Galapagos Islands	Thu 11:54 AM	557 km	346 miles	301 nm	NW
Guayaquil	Thu 12:54 PM	737 km	458 miles	398 nm	ENE
Quito	Thu 12:54 PM	971 km	604 miles	524 nm	ENE
Lima	Thu 12:54 PM	1302 km	809 miles	703 nm	SE
Cali	Thu 12:54 PM	1383 km	859 miles	747 nm	NE
San Jose	Thu 11:54 AM	1614 km	1003 miles	872 nm	N
Panama	Thu 12:54 PM	1664 km	1034 miles	899 nm	NNE
Medellin	Thu 12:54 PM	1669 km	1037 miles	901 nm	NE
Bogota	Thu 12:54 PM	1679 km	1043 miles	906 nm	NE
Managua	Thu 11:54 AM	1843 km	1145 miles	995 nm	N