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 19, 2012 at 19:52:00 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 19, 2012 at 19:52:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 26'	South
Longitude:	118° 54'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 425.68 meters/second, 1532.4 km/hour, 952.2 miles/hour or 827.5 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"	15.87 mi	west	0° 00' 00.0"	0.00 mi	south	15.87 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 41.4"	951.85 mi	west	0° 00' 01.8"	0.04 mi	south	951.85 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 26.7"	7.88 mi	east	0° 00' 32.0"	0.61 mi	south	7.90 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 19:52:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	1° 45'	North
Longitude:	34° 41'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 449.52 meters/second, 1618.3 km/hour, 1005.5 miles/hour or 873.8 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' 32.5"	16.76 mi	west	0° 00' 11.3"	0.22 mi	north	16.76 mi
1 hour	14° 32' 34.2"	1005.54 mi	west	0° 11' 22.0"	13.02 mi	north	1005.58 mi
24 hours	10° 51' 47.9"	751.13 mi	east	4° 25' 09.5"	303.68 mi	north	808.69 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
Easter Island *	Wed 2:52 PM	1046 km	650 miles	565 nm	ESE
Adamstown	Wed 11:52 AM	1151 km	715 miles	622 nm	WSW
Papeete	Wed 9:52 AM	3258 km	2024 miles	1759 nm	W
Galapagos Islands	Wed 1:52 PM	4028 km	2503 miles	2175 nm	NE
Rarotonga	Wed 9:52 AM	4204 km	2612 miles	2270 nm	W
Lima	Wed 2:52 PM	4597 km	2856 miles	2482 nm	E
Santiago *	Wed 4:52 PM	4811 km	2989 miles	2598 nm	ESE
Kiritimati	Thu 9:52 AM	5015 km	3116 miles	2708 nm	WNW
Quito	Wed 2:52 PM	5063 km	3146 miles	2734 nm	ENE
Mexico City	Wed 1:52 PM	5204 km	3234 miles	2810 nm	NNE