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 14, 2012 at 23:24:00 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 14, 2012 at 23:24:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 16'	South
Longitude:	172° 30'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 426.18 meters/second, 1534.2 km/hour, 953.3 miles/hour or 828.4 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"	15.89 mi	west	0° 00' 00.1"	0.00 mi	south	15.89 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 41.8"	952.97 mi	west	0° 00' 07.5"	0.14 mi	south	952.96 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 16.3"	7.71 mi	east	0° 02' 48.5"	3.22 mi	south	8.35 mi

Position of the Moon

On Friday, December 14, 2012 at 23:24:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	18° 27'	South
Longitude:	148° 18'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 422.37 meters/second, 1520.5 km/hour, 944.8 miles/hour or 821.0 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' 23.6"	15.75 mi	west	0° 00' 06.4"	0.12 mi	north	15.75 mi
1 hour	14° 23' 44.0"	944.66 mi	west	0° 06' 34.2"	7.53 mi	north	944.99 mi
24 hours	14° 05' 07.2"	924.31 mi	east	3° 08' 44.3"	216.33 mi	north	957.04 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
Nukualofa	Sat 12:24 PM	367 km	228 miles	198 nm	NW
Alofi	Fri 12:24 PM	539 km	335 miles	291 nm	NNE
Pago Pago	Fri 12:24 PM	1015 km	630 miles	548 nm	N
Apia *	Sat 1:24 PM	1048 km	651 miles	566 nm	N
Suva *	Sat 12:24 PM	1103 km	685 miles	595 nm	WNW
Rarotonga	Fri 1:24 PM	1330 km	827 miles	718 nm	E
Fakaofo	Sat 12:24 PM	1545 km	960 miles	834 nm	N
Funafuti	Sat 11:24 AM	1857 km	1154 miles	1003 nm	NNW
Auckland *	Sat 12:24 PM	1939 km	1205 miles	1047 nm	SW
Port Vila	Sat 10:24 AM	2091 km	1299 miles	1129 nm	WNW