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, April 4, 2012 at 23:54:00 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, April 4, 2012 at 23:54:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	6° 09'	North
Longitude:	178° 06'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 461.28 meters/second, 1660.6 km/hour, 1031.8 miles/hour or 896.7 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"	17.20 mi	west	0° 00' 00.9"	0.02 mi	north	17.20 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 10.8"	1031.88 mi	west	0° 00' 56.9"	1.09 mi	north	1031.87 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 18.1"	4.93 mi	west	0° 22' 42.0"	26.00 mi	north	26.46 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 23:54:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	0° 45'	South
Longitude:	23° 16'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 447.63 meters/second, 1611.5 km/hour, 1001.3 miles/hour or 870.1 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' 28.4"	16.69 mi	west	0° 00' 13.6"	0.26 mi	south	16.69 mi
1 hour	14° 28' 31.2"	1001.25 mi	west	0° 13' 36.1"	15.58 mi	south	1001.35 mi
24 hours	12° 48' 22.1"	885.80 mi	east	5° 25' 43.1"	373.03 mi	south	959.41 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	Wed 11:54 AM	682 km	424 miles	368 nm	SSE
Tarawa	Thu 11:54 AM	1119 km	695 miles	604 nm	WSW
Majuro	Thu 11:54 AM	1189 km	739 miles	642 nm	W
Funafuti	Thu 11:54 AM	1648 km	1024 miles	890 nm	S
Yaren	Thu 11:54 AM	1822 km	1132 miles	984 nm	WSW
Fakaofo	Thu 12:54 PM	1876 km	1166 miles	1013 nm	SSE
Wake Island	Thu 11:54 AM	2201 km	1368 miles	1188 nm	NW
Apia	Thu 12:54 PM	2317 km	1440 miles	1251 nm	SSE
Kiritimati	Thu 1:54 PM	2353 km	1462 miles	1270 nm	E
Midway	Wed 12:54 PM	2444 km	1519 miles	1320 nm	N