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 Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 23:38:00 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 Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 23:38:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	0° 29'	South
Longitude:	172° 50'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.91 meters/second, 1670.1 km/hour, 1037.7 miles/hour or 901.8 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"	17.30 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.30 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 10.9"	1037.81 mi	west	0° 00' 59.2"	1.13 mi	north	1037.81 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 24.1"	5.07 mi	west	0° 23' 43.5"	27.17 mi	north	27.64 mi

Position of the Moon

On Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 23:38:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	11° 14'	South
Longitude:	146° 18'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 440.67 meters/second, 1586.4 km/hour, 985.7 miles/hour or 856.6 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' 31.5"	16.43 mi	west	0° 00' 10.5"	0.20 mi	north	16.43 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 37.5"	985.67 mi	west	0° 10' 28.7"	12.00 mi	north	986.04 mi
24 hours	11° 06' 25.6"	753.66 mi	east	4° 21' 50.7"	299.94 mi	north	815.74 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
Baker Island	Sun 11:38 AM	413 km	257 miles	223 nm	W
Rawaki	Mon 12:38 PM	428 km	266 miles	231 nm	SSE
Fakaofo	Mon 12:38 PM	998 km	620 miles	539 nm	S
Funafuti	Mon 11:38 AM	1252 km	778 miles	676 nm	SW
Apia *	Mon 1:38 PM	1481 km	920 miles	799 nm	S
Tarawa	Mon 11:38 AM	1592 km	989 miles	859 nm	W
Kiritimati	Mon 1:38 PM	1744 km	1084 miles	942 nm	E
Majuro	Mon 11:38 AM	1964 km	1221 miles	1061 nm	WNW
Alofi	Sun 12:38 PM	2078 km	1291 miles	1122 nm	S
Suva	Mon 11:38 AM	2174 km	1351 miles	1174 nm	SSW