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

Latitude:	23° 07'	South
Longitude:	8° 18'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 426.65 meters/second, 1535.9 km/hour, 954.4 miles/hour or 829.3 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' 59.7"	15.91 mi	west	0° 00' 00.2"	0.00 mi	south	15.91 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 42.3"	954.03 mi	west	0° 00' 10.3"	0.20 mi	south	954.02 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 06.3"	7.54 mi	east	0° 03' 56.8"	4.53 mi	south	8.79 mi

Position of the Moon

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

Latitude:	20° 37'	South
Longitude:	21° 00'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 415.86 meters/second, 1497.1 km/hour, 930.3 miles/hour or 808.4 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' 21.8"	15.51 mi	west	0° 00' 02.5"	0.05 mi	south	15.51 mi
1 hour	14° 21' 45.8"	930.00 mi	west	0° 02' 22.4"	2.72 mi	south	929.89 mi
24 hours	15° 21' 10.7"	994.08 mi	east	0° 12' 37.0"	14.47 mi	south	993.49 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	Wed 12:26 PM	841 km	523 miles	454 nm	NNE
Windhoek *	Wed 2:26 PM	2604 km	1618 miles	1406 nm	E
Luanda	Wed 1:26 PM	2788 km	1732 miles	1505 nm	ENE
Cape Town	Wed 2:26 PM	2864 km	1780 miles	1547 nm	ESE
São Tomé	Wed 12:26 PM	3063 km	1903 miles	1654 nm	NE
Abidjan	Wed 12:26 PM	3181 km	1976 miles	1717 nm	N
Libreville	Wed 1:26 PM	3234 km	2010 miles	1746 nm	NE
Monrovia	Wed 12:26 PM	3268 km	2031 miles	1765 nm	N
Kinshasa	Wed 1:26 PM	3282 km	2039 miles	1772 nm	NE
Brazzaville	Wed 1:26 PM	3284 km	2041 miles	1773 nm	NE