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 18:20:00 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 18:20:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	4° 43'	South
Longitude:	98° 09'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 462.37 meters/second, 1664.5 km/hour, 1034.3 miles/hour or 898.8 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"	1034.34 mi	west	0° 00' 57.6"	1.10 mi	south	1034.33 mi
24 hours	0° 04' 29.4"	5.16 mi	west	0° 23' 02.9"	26.40 mi	south	26.90 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 18:20:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 14'	North
Longitude:	132° 11'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 421.42 meters/second, 1517.1 km/hour, 942.7 miles/hour or 819.2 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"	15.71 mi	west	0° 00' 03.0"	0.06 mi	north	15.71 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 05.7"	942.44 mi	west	0° 02' 58.6"	3.41 mi	north	942.30 mi
24 hours	11° 37' 23.0"	754.59 mi	east	0° 45' 10.2"	51.79 mi	north	754.52 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
Galapagos Islands	Thu 12:20 PM	1040 km	646 miles	561 nm	ENE
Guayaquil	Thu 1:20 PM	2046 km	1271 miles	1105 nm	E
Quito	Thu 1:20 PM	2240 km	1392 miles	1210 nm	ENE
San Jose	Thu 12:20 PM	2249 km	1397 miles	1214 nm	NE
San Salvador	Thu 12:20 PM	2264 km	1407 miles	1222 nm	NNE
Managua	Thu 12:20 PM	2282 km	1418 miles	1232 nm	NE
Guatemala	Thu 12:20 PM	2297 km	1427 miles	1240 nm	NNE
Acapulco *	Thu 1:20 PM	2393 km	1487 miles	1292 nm	N
Tegucigalpa	Thu 12:20 PM	2403 km	1493 miles	1298 nm	NNE
Lima	Thu 1:20 PM	2461 km	1529 miles	1329 nm	ESE