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 Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 01:42:00 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 Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 01:42:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 26'	South
Longitude:	153° 37'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 425.67 meters/second, 1532.4 km/hour, 952.2 miles/hour or 827.4 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"	15.87 mi	west	0° 00' 00.0"	0.00 mi	south	15.87 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 41.4"	951.83 mi	west	0° 00' 01.6"	0.03 mi	south	951.83 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 26.8"	7.88 mi	east	0° 00' 25.2"	0.48 mi	south	7.90 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 01:42:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	2° 50'	North
Longitude:	119° 32'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 449.26 meters/second, 1617.3 km/hour, 1005.0 miles/hour or 873.3 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' 32.6"	16.75 mi	west	0° 00' 11.1"	0.21 mi	north	16.75 mi
1 hour	14° 32' 44.0"	1004.96 mi	west	0° 11' 13.5"	12.85 mi	north	1004.96 mi
24 hours	10° 49' 17.5"	747.67 mi	east	4° 20' 40.9"	298.56 mi	north	803.11 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
Bundaberg	Thu 11:42 AM	204 km	127 miles	110 nm	SW
Hervey Bay	Thu 11:42 AM	219 km	136 miles	118 nm	SSW
Brisbane	Thu 11:42 AM	452 km	281 miles	244 nm	S
Cairns	Thu 11:42 AM	1091 km	678 miles	589 nm	NW
Sydney *	Thu 12:42 PM	1180 km	733 miles	637 nm	S
Noumea	Thu 12:42 PM	1322 km	822 miles	714 nm	E
Canberra *	Thu 12:42 PM	1384 km	860 miles	747 nm	SSW
Port Vila	Thu 12:42 PM	1655 km	1028 miles	894 nm	ENE
Honiara	Thu 12:42 PM	1689 km	1050 miles	912 nm	NNE
Port Moresby	Thu 11:42 AM	1692 km	1051 miles	913 nm	NNW