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, December 10, 2012 at 12:26:00 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, December 10, 2012 at 12:26:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 58'	South
Longitude:	8° 32'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 427.14 meters/second, 1537.7 km/hour, 955.5 miles/hour or 830.3 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"	15.93 mi	west	0° 00' 00.2"	0.00 mi	south	15.93 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 42.8"	955.13 mi	west	0° 00' 12.6"	0.24 mi	south	955.12 mi
24 hours	0° 06' 55.7"	7.36 mi	east	0° 04' 51.6"	5.58 mi	south	9.23 mi

Position of the Moon

On Monday, December 10, 2012 at 12:26:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	15° 55'	South
Longitude:	50° 26'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 428.89 meters/second, 1544.0 km/hour, 959.4 miles/hour or 833.7 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' 25.2"	15.99 mi	west	0° 00' 08.7"	0.17 mi	south	15.99 mi
1 hour	14° 25' 06.5"	959.18 mi	west	0° 08' 43.7"	10.01 mi	south	958.88 mi
24 hours	14° 21' 58.3"	955.70 mi	east	2° 59' 00.1"	205.18 mi	south	970.10 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
Jamestown	Mon 12:26 PM	834 km	518 miles	450 nm	NNE
Windhoek *	Mon 2:26 PM	2629 km	1633 miles	1419 nm	E
Luanda	Mon 1:26 PM	2799 km	1739 miles	1511 nm	ENE
Cape Town	Mon 2:26 PM	2893 km	1798 miles	1562 nm	ESE
São Tomé	Mon 12:26 PM	3063 km	1903 miles	1654 nm	NE
Abidjan	Mon 12:26 PM	3168 km	1968 miles	1710 nm	N
Libreville	Mon 1:26 PM	3236 km	2011 miles	1747 nm	NE
Monrovia	Mon 12:26 PM	3249 km	2019 miles	1754 nm	N
Accra	Mon 12:26 PM	3282 km	2039 miles	1772 nm	NNE
Kinshasa	Mon 1:26 PM	3291 km	2045 miles	1777 nm	NE