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 21, 2012 at 18:36:00 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 21, 2012 at 18:36:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	23° 26'	South
Longitude:	99° 40'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 425.65 meters/second, 1532.3 km/hour, 952.1 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	north	15.87 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 41.4"	951.78 mi	west	0° 00' 00.4"	0.01 mi	north	951.78 mi
24 hours	0° 07' 27.1"	7.89 mi	east	0° 00' 22.8"	0.44 mi	north	7.90 mi

Position of the Moon

On Friday, December 21, 2012 at 18:36:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	10° 01'	North
Longitude:	5° 22'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 443.17 meters/second, 1595.4 km/hour, 991.3 miles/hour or 861.5 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' 33.1"	16.52 mi	west	0° 00' 09.7"	0.18 mi	north	16.52 mi
1 hour	14° 33' 04.9"	991.27 mi	west	0° 09' 37.5"	11.03 mi	north	991.09 mi
24 hours	10° 49' 04.6"	736.97 mi	east	3° 35' 51.8"	247.32 mi	north	773.03 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 *	Fri 1:36 PM	1054 km	655 miles	569 nm	WSW
Lima	Fri 1:36 PM	2704 km	1680 miles	1460 nm	ENE
Galapagos Islands	Fri 12:36 PM	2720 km	1690 miles	1469 nm	NNE
Santiago *	Fri 3:36 PM	3036 km	1887 miles	1639 nm	ESE
Adamstown	Fri 10:36 AM	3090 km	1920 miles	1668 nm	W
La Paz	Fri 2:36 PM	3381 km	2101 miles	1826 nm	E
Quito	Fri 1:36 PM	3438 km	2137 miles	1857 nm	NE
Sucre	Fri 2:36 PM	3596 km	2234 miles	1942 nm	E
Córdoba	Fri 3:36 PM	3603 km	2239 miles	1945 nm	ESE
San Jose	Fri 12:36 PM	4063 km	2524 miles	2194 nm	NNE