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, November 7, 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

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 444.80 meters/second, 1601.3 km/hour, 995.0 miles/hour or 864.6 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
France - Tahiti - Papeete	Sat 11:24 AM	492 km	306 miles	266 nm	WSW
France - Marquesas Islands - Taiohae	Sat 11:54 AM	1027 km	638 miles	555 nm	NE
French Polynesia - Gambier Islands	Sat 12:24 PM	1288 km	800 miles	695 nm	SE
Cook Islands - Rarotonga	Sat 11:24 AM	1687 km	1048 miles	911 nm	WSW
Pitcairn Islands - Adamstown	Sat 1:24 PM	1823 km	1133 miles	984 nm	SE
Kiribati - Christmas Island - Kiritimati	Sun 11:24 AM	2439 km	1516 miles	1317 nm	NW
Niue - Alofi	Sat 10:24 AM	2648 km	1645 miles	1430 nm	W
American Samoa - Pago Pago	Sat 10:24 AM	2761 km	1716 miles	1491 nm	W
Samoa - Apia	Sat 10:24 AM	2881 km	1790 miles	1556 nm	W
Tokelau - Tokelau - Fakaofo	Sat 11:24 AM	2944 km	1829 miles	1590 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

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