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 Friday, December 7, 2012 at 02:18:00 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 Friday, December 7, 2012 at 02:18:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 38'	South
Longitude:	143° 06'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 428.19 meters/second, 1541.5 km/hour, 957.8 miles/hour or 832.3 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° 14' 59.6"	15.97 mi	west	0° 00' 00.2"	0.01 mi	south	15.97 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 43.8"	957.49 mi	west	0° 00' 16.5"	0.32 mi	south	957.48 mi
24 hours	0° 06' 32.8"	6.97 mi	east	0° 06' 24.2"	7.34 mi	south	10.12 mi

Position of the Moon

On Friday, December 7, 2012 at 02:18:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	0° 47'	South
Longitude:	58° 41'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 449.11 meters/second, 1616.8 km/hour, 1004.6 miles/hour or 873.0 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' 31.3"	16.74 mi	west	0° 00' 11.8"	0.23 mi	south	16.74 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 24.7"	1004.58 mi	west	0° 11' 51.3"	13.58 mi	south	1004.65 mi
24 hours	11° 40' 07.8"	807.12 mi	east	4° 45' 28.9"	326.95 mi	south	869.55 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
Cairns	Fri 12:18 PM	692 km	430 miles	374 nm	NNE
Alice Springs	Fri 11:48 AM	952 km	591 miles	514 nm	W
Brisbane	Fri 12:18 PM	1136 km	706 miles	613 nm	ESE
Adelaide *	Fri 12:48 PM	1431 km	889 miles	773 nm	SSW
Sydney *	Fri 1:18 PM	1476 km	917 miles	797 nm	SSE
Canberra *	Fri 1:18 PM	1519 km	944 miles	820 nm	SSE
Port Moresby	Fri 12:18 PM	1523 km	946 miles	822 nm	NNE
Melbourne *	Fri 1:18 PM	1692 km	1052 miles	914 nm	S
Darwin	Fri 11:48 AM	1718 km	1068 miles	928 nm	NW
Eucla	Fri 11:03 AM	1725 km	1072 miles	932 nm	SW