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 11, 2012 at 09:48:00 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 11, 2012 at 09:48:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 02'	South
Longitude:	31° 05'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 426.91 meters/second, 1536.9 km/hour, 955.0 miles/hour or 829.8 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° 14' 59.7"	15.92 mi	west	0° 00' 00.2"	0.00 mi	south	15.92 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 42.5"	954.62 mi	west	0° 00' 11.6"	0.22 mi	south	954.60 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 00.6"	7.44 mi	east	0° 04' 27.3"	5.11 mi	south	9.03 mi

Position of the Moon

On Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 09:48:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	18° 38'	South
Longitude:	1° 49'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 421.74 meters/second, 1518.3 km/hour, 943.4 miles/hour or 819.8 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' 23.2"	15.72 mi	west	0° 00' 06.2"	0.12 mi	south	15.72 mi
1 hour	14° 23' 15.1"	943.14 mi	west	0° 06' 16.3"	7.19 mi	south	942.88 mi
24 hours	15° 00' 02.8"	983.32 mi	east	1° 51' 43.4"	128.09 mi	south	986.10 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
Nelspruit	Tue 11:48 AM	269 km	167 miles	145 nm	S
Maputo	Tue 11:48 AM	358 km	223 miles	193 nm	SSE
Mbabane	Tue 11:48 AM	363 km	225 miles	196 nm	S
Manzini	Tue 11:48 AM	384 km	239 miles	207 nm	S
Bulawayo	Tue 11:48 AM	411 km	255 miles	222 nm	NW
Pretoria	Tue 11:48 AM	419 km	260 miles	226 nm	SW
Francistown	Tue 11:48 AM	422 km	262 miles	228 nm	WNW
Big Bend	Tue 11:48 AM	425 km	264 miles	229 nm	SSE
Johannesburg	Tue 11:48 AM	466 km	289 miles	251 nm	SW
Mutare	Tue 11:48 AM	479 km	298 miles	259 nm	NNE