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 Monday, September 17, 2012 at 12:02:00 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 Monday, September 17, 2012 at 12:02:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	1° 59'	North
Longitude:	2° 11'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 463.67 meters/second, 1669.2 km/hour, 1037.2 miles/hour or 901.3 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	south	17.29 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 13.3"	1037.27 mi	west	0° 00' 58.1"	1.11 mi	south	1037.27 mi
24 hours	0° 05' 20.0"	6.14 mi	west	0° 23' 14.4"	26.62 mi	south	27.32 mi

Position of the Moon

On Monday, September 17, 2012 at 12:02:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	8° 43'	South
Longitude:	13° 46'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.22 meters/second, 1592.0 km/hour, 989.2 miles/hour or 859.6 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' 27.9"	16.49 mi	west	0° 00' 12.0"	0.23 mi	south	16.49 mi
1 hour	14° 27' 56.2"	989.11 mi	west	0° 11' 57.3"	13.69 mi	south	988.94 mi
24 hours	13° 04' 06.1"	893.58 mi	east	4° 30' 26.0"	309.82 mi	south	939.80 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
Abidjan	Mon 12:02 PM	421 km	262 miles	227 nm	NNW
Accra	Mon 12:02 PM	451 km	280 miles	244 nm	NNE
Kumasi	Mon 12:02 PM	525 km	326 miles	283 nm	N
Lome	Mon 12:02 PM	594 km	369 miles	321 nm	NE
Yamoussoukro	Mon 12:02 PM	635 km	395 miles	343 nm	NNW
Bouaké	Mon 12:02 PM	705 km	438 miles	381 nm	NNW
Cotonou	Mon 1:02 PM	706 km	439 miles	381 nm	NE
Porto Novo	Mon 1:02 PM	744 km	462 miles	402 nm	NE
Lagos	Mon 1:02 PM	788 km	490 miles	426 nm	NE
Tamale	Mon 12:02 PM	834 km	518 miles	450 nm	N