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 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 23:16:00 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 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 23:16:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	0° 42'	North
Longitude:	167° 33'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.89 meters/second, 1670.0 km/hour, 1037.7 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"	17.30 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	17.30 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 11.2"	1037.77 mi	west	0° 00' 59.1"	1.13 mi	north	1037.77 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 28.6"	5.16 mi	west	0° 23' 40.4"	27.11 mi	north	27.60 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 23:16:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	2° 15'	North
Longitude:	176° 04'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 450.11 meters/second, 1620.4 km/hour, 1006.9 miles/hour or 874.9 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' 34.0"	16.78 mi	west	0° 00' 11.3"	0.22 mi	north	16.78 mi
1 hour	14° 33' 58.5"	1006.85 mi	west	0° 11' 24.6"	13.07 mi	north	1006.87 mi
24 hours	10° 23' 58.1"	718.84 mi	east	4° 27' 47.5"	306.70 mi	north	779.85 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
Rawaki	Thu 12:16 PM	602 km	374 miles	325 nm	SW
Baker Island	Wed 11:16 AM	996 km	619 miles	538 nm	W
Kiritimati	Thu 1:16 PM	1144 km	711 miles	618 nm	E
Fakaofo	Thu 12:16 PM	1185 km	736 miles	640 nm	SSW
Apia *	Thu 1:16 PM	1673 km	1039 miles	903 nm	SSW
Funafuti	Thu 11:16 AM	1787 km	1110 miles	965 nm	SW
Tarawa	Thu 11:16 AM	2166 km	1346 miles	1170 nm	W
Alofi	Wed 12:16 PM	2199 km	1366 miles	1187 nm	S
Majuro	Thu 11:16 AM	2465 km	1531 miles	1331 nm	WNW
Honolulu	Wed 1:16 PM	2512 km	1561 miles	1357 nm	NNE