Day and Night World Map

The map below shows the current position of the Sun and indicates which parts of the Earth are in day and which are in night.

Map notes

• The day and night parts of the Earth shown are as of Friday, October 9, 2009 at 22:24:00 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 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, October 9, 2009 at 22:24:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	6° 35'	South
Longitude:	159° 13'	West

During the next hour, the Sun's position relative to Earth's surface will move in an westerly direction by 15° 00' 10" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 57" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 460.88 meters/second, 1659.2 km/hour, 1031.0 miles/hour or 895.9 knots.

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
Kiribati - Christmas Island - Kiritimati	Sat 12:24 PM	958 km	595 miles	517 nm	NNE
Tokelau - Tokelau - Fakaofo	Fri 12:24 PM	1360 km	845 miles	734 nm	WSW
Kiribati - Phoenix Islands - Rawaki	Sat 11:24 AM	1370 km	851 miles	740 nm	WNW
American Samoa - Pago Pago	Fri 11:24 AM	1516 km	942 miles	819 nm	SW
Samoa - Apia	Fri 11:24 AM	1587 km	986 miles	857 nm	WSW
France - Tahiti - Papeete	Fri 12:24 PM	1602 km	996 miles	865 nm	SE
Cook Islands - Rarotonga	Fri 12:24 PM	1636 km	1016 miles	883 nm	S
Niue - Alofi	Fri 11:24 AM	1801 km	1119 miles	972 nm	SW
Wallis and Futuna - Mata-Utu	Sat 10:24 AM	2000 km	1243 miles	1080 nm	WSW
France - Marquesas Islands - Taiohae	Fri 12:54 PM	2191 km	1361 miles	1183 nm	E

Symbols Fri means Friday, October 9, 2009 (7 places listed). Sat means Saturday, October 10, 2009 (3 places listed). km means kilometers from origin. miles means miles from origin. nm means nautical miles from origin. All numbers are air distances. Configure this site! (Select AM/PM or 24 hour mode, home place and country)

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