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 Monday, March 12, 2012 at 21:36:00 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 Monday, March 12, 2012 at 21:36:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	2° 53'	South
Longitude:	141° 54'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.33 meters/second, 1668.0 km/hour, 1036.4 miles/hour or 900.6 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"	17.28 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.28 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 10.1"	1036.51 mi	west	0° 00' 59.0"	1.13 mi	north	1036.52 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 07.3"	4.75 mi	west	0° 23' 39.3"	27.09 mi	north	27.51 mi

Position of the Moon

On Monday, March 12, 2012 at 21:36:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 03'	South
Longitude:	96° 34'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 418.74 meters/second, 1507.5 km/hour, 936.7 miles/hour or 814.0 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' 24.5"	15.61 mi	west	0° 00' 05.9"	0.11 mi	south	15.61 mi
1 hour	14° 24' 31.3"	936.43 mi	west	0° 05' 47.6"	6.64 mi	south	936.17 mi
24 hours	14° 13' 54.7"	924.94 mi	east	1° 39' 32.0"	114.13 mi	south	926.98 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	Mon 12:06 PM	726 km	451 miles	392 nm	SSE
Kiritimati	Tue 11:36 AM	1797 km	1116 miles	970 nm	WNW
Papeete	Mon 11:36 AM	1824 km	1133 miles	985 nm	SSW
Adamstown	Mon 1:36 PM	2761 km	1715 miles	1491 nm	SSE
Rarotonga	Mon 11:36 AM	2805 km	1743 miles	1515 nm	SW
Honolulu	Mon 11:36 AM	3193 km	1984 miles	1724 nm	NNW
Fakaofo	Tue 10:36 AM	3323 km	2065 miles	1794 nm	WSW
Apia *	Tue 11:36 AM	3500 km	2175 miles	1890 nm	WSW
Alofi	Mon 10:36 AM	3535 km	2197 miles	1909 nm	WSW
Baker Island	Mon 9:36 AM	3863 km	2400 miles	2086 nm	W