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, November 6, 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

During the next hour, the Sun's position relative to Earth's surface will move in an westerly direction by 14° 59' 58" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 44" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 445.44 meters/second, 1603.6 km/hour, 996.4 miles/hour or 865.9 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Cook Islands - Rarotonga	Fri 12:24 PM	565 km	351 miles	305 nm	S
Niue - Alofi	Fri 11:24 AM	1089 km	677 miles	588 nm	WSW
France - Tahiti - Papeete	Fri 12:24 PM	1129 km	702 miles	610 nm	E
American Samoa - Pago Pago	Fri 11:24 AM	1161 km	721 miles	627 nm	W
Samoa - Apia	Fri 11:24 AM	1283 km	797 miles	693 nm	W
Tokelau - Tokelau - Fakaofo	Fri 12:24 PM	1428 km	888 miles	771 nm	WNW
Tonga - Nukualofa	Sat 11:24 AM	1683 km	1046 miles	909 nm	WSW
Wallis and Futuna - Mata-Utu	Sat 10:24 AM	1761 km	1094 miles	951 nm	W
Kiribati - Phoenix Islands - Rawaki	Sat 11:24 AM	1884 km	1171 miles	1017 nm	NW
Kiribati - Christmas Island - Kiritimati	Sat 12:24 PM	2024 km	1258 miles	1093 nm	N

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?