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 Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 01:34:00 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 Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 01:34:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 16'	South
Longitude:	153° 46'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 429.33 meters/second, 1545.6 km/hour, 960.4 miles/hour or 834.6 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° 14' 59.7"	16.01 mi	west	0° 00' 00.3"	0.01 mi	south	16.01 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 44.8"	960.06 mi	west	0° 00' 19.9"	0.38 mi	south	960.04 mi
24 hours	0° 06' 08.1"	6.55 mi	east	0° 07' 43.9"	8.87 mi	south	11.02 mi

Position of the Moon

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 01:34:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	12° 15'	North
Longitude:	36° 01'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 439.42 meters/second, 1581.9 km/hour, 983.0 miles/hour or 854.2 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' 32.2"	16.38 mi	west	0° 00' 09.0"	0.17 mi	south	16.38 mi
1 hour	14° 32' 20.4"	982.87 mi	west	0° 09' 04.7"	10.40 mi	south	983.20 mi
24 hours	11° 01' 40.8"	745.55 mi	east	3° 53' 33.7"	267.56 mi	south	796.72 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
Brisbane	Tue 11:34 AM	581 km	361 miles	314 nm	S
Cairns	Tue 11:34 AM	1026 km	638 miles	554 nm	NW
Noumea	Tue 12:34 PM	1306 km	812 miles	705 nm	E
Sydney *	Tue 12:34 PM	1310 km	814 miles	707 nm	S
Canberra *	Tue 12:34 PM	1512 km	939 miles	816 nm	SSW
Honiara	Tue 12:34 PM	1566 km	973 miles	846 nm	NNE
Port Moresby	Tue 11:34 AM	1583 km	984 miles	855 nm	NNW
Port Vila	Tue 12:34 PM	1601 km	995 miles	865 nm	ENE
Melbourne *	Tue 12:34 PM	1919 km	1193 miles	1036 nm	SSW
Adelaide *	Tue 12:04 PM	2038 km	1266 miles	1101 nm	SW