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 17:24:00 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 Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 17:24:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 26'	South
Longitude:	81° 48'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 425.65 meters/second, 1532.3 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"	951.79 mi	west	0° 00' 00.8"	0.02 mi	south	951.79 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 27.1"	7.89 mi	east	0° 00' 06.6"	0.13 mi	south	7.89 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 17:24:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	5° 43'	North
Longitude:	12° 04'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 447.73 meters/second, 1611.8 km/hour, 1001.5 miles/hour or 870.3 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' 32.9"	16.69 mi	west	0° 00' 10.6"	0.21 mi	north	16.69 mi
1 hour	14° 33' 01.4"	1001.52 mi	west	0° 10' 43.7"	12.29 mi	north	1001.44 mi
24 hours	10° 45' 51.3"	740.93 mi	east	4° 06' 09.0"	281.95 mi	north	789.69 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
Lima	Thu 12:24 PM	1356 km	843 miles	732 nm	NNE
Santiago *	Thu 2:24 PM	1552 km	965 miles	838 nm	SE
La Paz	Thu 1:24 PM	1621 km	1008 miles	876 nm	ENE
Sucre	Thu 1:24 PM	1783 km	1108 miles	963 nm	ENE
Córdoba	Thu 2:24 PM	1951 km	1212 miles	1053 nm	ESE
Guayaquil	Thu 12:24 PM	2356 km	1464 miles	1272 nm	N
Asuncion *	Thu 2:24 PM	2456 km	1526 miles	1326 nm	E
Buenos Aires	Thu 2:24 PM	2586 km	1607 miles	1396 nm	SE
Quito	Thu 12:24 PM	2591 km	1610 miles	1399 nm	N
Galapagos Islands	Thu 11:24 AM	2632 km	1635 miles	1421 nm	NNW