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 17:42:00 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 Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 17:42:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	0° 59'	South
Longitude:	83° 44'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.86 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"	1037.69 mi	west	0° 00' 59.2"	1.13 mi	north	1037.69 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 21.5"	5.02 mi	west	0° 23' 43.9"	27.18 mi	north	27.64 mi

Position of the Moon

On Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 17:42:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	16° 02'	South
Longitude:	139° 21'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 430.86 meters/second, 1551.1 km/hour, 963.8 miles/hour or 837.5 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' 29.6"	16.06 mi	west	0° 00' 08.5"	0.16 mi	north	16.06 mi
1 hour	14° 29' 39.1"	963.66 mi	west	0° 08' 40.3"	9.94 mi	north	964.05 mi
24 hours	11° 49' 13.5"	785.94 mi	east	3° 46' 50.9"	259.95 mi	north	834.31 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
Guayaquil	Sat 12:42 PM	448 km	279 miles	242 nm	ESE
Quito	Sat 12:42 PM	589 km	366 miles	318 nm	E
Galapagos Islands	Sat 11:42 AM	653 km	406 miles	352 nm	W
Cali	Sat 12:42 PM	940 km	584 miles	507 nm	ENE
Panama	Sat 12:42 PM	1198 km	744 miles	647 nm	NNE
Medellin	Sat 12:42 PM	1207 km	750 miles	652 nm	NE
San Jose	Sat 11:42 AM	1207 km	750 miles	652 nm	N
Bogota	Sat 12:42 PM	1240 km	771 miles	670 nm	ENE
Lima	Sat 12:42 PM	1431 km	889 miles	773 nm	SSE
Managua	Sat 11:42 AM	1478 km	919 miles	798 nm	N