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 Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 15:52:00 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 Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 15:52:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	1° 01'	South
Longitude:	56° 14'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.85 meters/second, 1669.9 km/hour, 1037.6 miles/hour or 901.7 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' 00.1"	17.29 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.29 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 10.8"	1037.68 mi	west	0° 00' 59.2"	1.13 mi	north	1037.68 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 21.3"	5.02 mi	west	0° 23' 43.8"	27.18 mi	north	27.64 mi

Position of the Moon

On Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 15:52:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	16° 18'	South
Longitude:	112° 46'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 430.22 meters/second, 1548.8 km/hour, 962.4 miles/hour or 836.3 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' 29.5"	16.04 mi	west	0° 00' 08.5"	0.16 mi	north	16.04 mi
1 hour	14° 29' 31.0"	962.23 mi	west	0° 08' 31.9"	9.78 mi	north	962.63 mi
24 hours	11° 52' 13.4"	788.22 mi	east	3° 43' 59.8"	256.68 mi	north	835.53 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
Santarém	Sat 12:52 PM	230 km	143 miles	124 nm	SE
Manaus	Sat 11:52 AM	482 km	299 miles	260 nm	WSW
Boa Vista	Sat 11:52 AM	657 km	408 miles	355 nm	NW
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni	Sat 12:52 PM	760 km	473 miles	411 nm	NNE
Paramaribo	Sat 12:52 PM	765 km	475 miles	413 nm	N
Nieuw Nickerie	Sat 12:52 PM	773 km	480 miles	417 nm	N
Cayenne	Sat 12:52 PM	788 km	489 miles	425 nm	NNE
Linden	Sat 11:52 AM	810 km	503 miles	437 nm	NNW
New Amsterdam	Sat 11:52 AM	815 km	506 miles	440 nm	N
Belém	Sat 12:52 PM	864 km	537 miles	466 nm	E