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 Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 23:04:00 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

During the next hour, the Sun's position relative to Earth's surface will move in an westerly direction by 14° 59' 60" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 46" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 447.42 meters/second, 1610.7 km/hour, 1000.9 miles/hour or 869.7 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
American Samoa - Pago Pago	Tue 12:04 PM	134 km	83 miles	73 nm	NNW
Samoa - Apia	Tue 12:04 PM	245 km	153 miles	133 nm	NW
Niue - Alofi	Tue 12:04 PM	412 km	256 miles	222 nm	S
Tokelau - Tokelau - Fakaofo	Tue 1:04 PM	671 km	417 miles	362 nm	N
Wallis and Futuna - Mata-Utu	Wed 11:04 AM	692 km	430 miles	373 nm	WNW
Tonga - Nukualofa	Wed 12:04 PM	837 km	520 miles	452 nm	SW
Cook Islands - Rarotonga	Tue 1:04 PM	1233 km	766 miles	666 nm	SE
Fiji - Suva	Wed 11:04 AM	1263 km	784 miles	682 nm	WSW
Kiribati - Phoenix Islands - Rawaki	Wed 12:04 PM	1354 km	841 miles	731 nm	N
Tuvalu - Funafuti	Wed 11:04 AM	1386 km	861 miles	748 nm	WNW

Astronomy calculators

• Seasons Calculator
• Moon Calculator – find times for moonrise, moonset and more
• Moon Phase Calculator – Calculate Moon Phases for any year
• Sunrise Calculator – find times for sunrise, sunset and more

More information

• September Equinox
• December Solstice
• Vernal Equinox
• June Solstice

Related time zone tools

• The World Clock – current times around the world
• Personal World Clock – shows just the cities you need
• Meeting Planner – find a suitable time for an international meeting
• Time Zone Converter – If it is 3 pm in New York, what time is it in Sydney?
• Fixed Time Calculator – If it's 3 pm in New York, what time is it in the rest of the world?