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 Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 21:24:00 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 Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 21:24:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	6° 57'	South
Longitude:	144° 17'	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 460.53 meters/second, 1657.9 km/hour, 1030.2 miles/hour or 895.2 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

The following table shows 9 locations with Sun near zenith position in the sky.

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
France - Marquesas Islands - Taiohae	Sat 11:54 AM	574 km	357 miles	310 nm	ESE
France - Tahiti - Papeete	Sat 11:24 AM	1304 km	810 miles	704 nm	SSW
Kiribati - Christmas Island - Kiritimati	Sun 11:24 AM	1747 km	1086 miles	943 nm	WNW
French Polynesia - Gambier Islands	Sat 12:24 PM	2051 km	1274 miles	1107 nm	SSE
Cook Islands - Rarotonga	Sat 11:24 AM	2343 km	1456 miles	1265 nm	SW
Pitcairn Islands - Adamstown	Sat 1:24 PM	2511 km	1560 miles	1356 nm	SE
Tokelau - Tokelau - Fakaofo	Sat 11:24 AM	2981 km	1852 miles	1610 nm	W
American Samoa - Pago Pago	Sat 10:24 AM	2999 km	1864 miles	1619 nm	WSW
Kiribati - Phoenix Islands - Rawaki	Sun 10:24 AM	3001 km	1865 miles	1620 nm	W

Symbols Sat means Saturday, October 10, 2009 (7 places listed). Sun means Sunday, October 11, 2009 (2 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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