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, April 15, 2012 at 11:48:00 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, April 15, 2012 at 11:48:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	10° 01'	North
Longitude:	2° 43'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 456.89 meters/second, 1644.8 km/hour, 1022.0 miles/hour or 888.1 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"	17.04 mi	west	0° 00' 00.9"	0.02 mi	north	17.04 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 08.8"	1022.02 mi	west	0° 00' 53.3"	1.02 mi	north	1022.00 mi
24 hours	0° 03' 31.2"	4.00 mi	west	0° 21' 15.3"	24.35 mi	north	24.67 mi

Position of the Moon

On Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 11:48:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	9° 53'	South
Longitude:	59° 57'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.82 meters/second, 1594.1 km/hour, 990.6 miles/hour or 860.8 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' 32.0"	16.51 mi	west	0° 00' 10.5"	0.20 mi	north	16.51 mi
1 hour	14° 32' 03.7"	990.50 mi	west	0° 10' 39.5"	12.21 mi	north	990.84 mi
24 hours	10° 55' 44.7"	744.84 mi	east	4° 23' 37.0"	301.95 mi	north	807.63 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
Parakou	Sun 12:48 PM	75 km	47 miles	40 nm	S
Kara	Sun 11:48 AM	174 km	108 miles	94 nm	WSW
Sokodé	Sun 11:48 AM	206 km	128 miles	111 nm	WSW
Ibadan	Sun 12:48 PM	320 km	199 miles	173 nm	SSE
Porto Novo	Sun 12:48 PM	388 km	241 miles	210 nm	S
Niamey	Sun 12:48 PM	393 km	244 miles	212 nm	N
Tamale	Sun 11:48 AM	395 km	246 miles	213 nm	W
Lagos	Sun 12:48 PM	399 km	248 miles	216 nm	S
Cotonou	Sun 12:48 PM	403 km	251 miles	218 nm	S
Lome	Sun 11:48 AM	459 km	285 miles	248 nm	SSW