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 Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 14:20:00 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 Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 14:20:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	4° 39'	South
Longitude:	38° 08'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 462.41 meters/second, 1664.7 km/hour, 1034.4 miles/hour or 898.9 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"	17.24 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	south	17.24 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 11.3"	1034.44 mi	west	0° 00' 57.6"	1.10 mi	south	1034.43 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 30.3"	5.18 mi	west	0° 23' 03.6"	26.41 mi	south	26.91 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 14:20:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 01'	North
Longitude:	169° 44'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 422.03 meters/second, 1519.3 km/hour, 944.0 miles/hour or 820.4 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' 31.1"	15.74 mi	west	0° 00' 03.4"	0.06 mi	north	15.74 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 09.6"	943.80 mi	west	0° 03' 20.10"	3.84 mi	north	943.64 mi
24 hours	11° 36' 09.6"	754.29 mi	east	0° 54' 19.10"	62.30 mi	north	754.67 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
Mossoró	Thu 11:20 AM	109 km	68 miles	59 nm	ESE
Fortaleza	Thu 11:20 AM	111 km	69 miles	60 nm	NNW
Natal	Thu 11:20 AM	343 km	213 miles	185 nm	ESE
Recife	Thu 11:20 AM	524 km	326 miles	283 nm	SE
Maceió	Thu 11:20 AM	615 km	382 miles	332 nm	SSE
Fernando de Noronha	Thu 12:20 PM	640 km	398 miles	346 nm	E
Salvador	Thu 11:20 AM	920 km	572 miles	497 nm	S
Belém	Thu 11:20 AM	1203 km	748 miles	650 nm	WNW
Brasilia	Thu 11:20 AM	1630 km	1013 miles	880 nm	SW
Cayenne	Thu 11:20 AM	1901 km	1181 miles	1027 nm	NW