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 Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:20:00 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 Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:20:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 18'	South
Longitude:	8° 34'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 426.10 meters/second, 1534.0 km/hour, 953.2 miles/hour or 828.3 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"	15.89 mi	west	0° 00' 00.1"	0.00 mi	south	15.89 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 41.7"	952.79 mi	west	0° 00' 07.0"	0.13 mi	south	952.79 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 18.0"	7.74 mi	east	0° 02' 34.7"	2.96 mi	south	8.28 mi

Position of the Moon

On Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:20:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 01'	South
Longitude:	39° 49'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 426.29 meters/second, 1534.6 km/hour, 953.6 miles/hour or 828.6 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' 24.7"	15.89 mi	west	0° 00' 07.9"	0.15 mi	north	15.89 mi
1 hour	14° 24' 48.9"	953.44 mi	west	0° 07' 56.8"	9.11 mi	north	953.82 mi
24 hours	13° 37' 40.4"	901.49 mi	east	3° 36' 32.7"	248.16 mi	north	942.79 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
Walvis Bay *	Sat 1:20 PM	610 km	379 miles	329 nm	E
Swakopmund *	Sat 1:20 PM	616 km	383 miles	332 nm	E
Windhoek *	Sat 1:20 PM	880 km	547 miles	475 nm	E
Cape Town	Sat 1:20 PM	1521 km	945 miles	821 nm	SE
Luanda	Sat 12:20 PM	1676 km	1041 miles	905 nm	NNE
Jamestown	Sat 11:20 AM	1704 km	1059 miles	920 nm	WNW
Gaborone	Sat 1:20 PM	1771 km	1100 miles	956 nm	E
Johannesburg	Sat 1:20 PM	1995 km	1240 miles	1077 nm	ESE
Maseru	Sat 1:20 PM	2001 km	1244 miles	1081 nm	ESE
Pretoria	Sat 1:20 PM	2006 km	1246 miles	1083 nm	ESE