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 Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 05:04:00 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' 46" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 22" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 430.23 meters/second, 1548.8 km/hour, 962.4 miles/hour or 836.3 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Cocos Islands - Bantam	Wed 11:34 AM	1188 km	738 miles	642 nm	NNW
Australia - Christmas Island - The Settlement	Wed 12:04 PM	1351 km	839 miles	729 nm	NNE
Indonesia - Java - Tasikmalaya	Wed 12:04 PM	1782 km	1107 miles	962 nm	NNE
Indonesia - Java - Bandung	Wed 12:04 PM	1791 km	1113 miles	967 nm	NNE
Indonesia - Java - Bogor	Wed 12:04 PM	1801 km	1119 miles	972 nm	NNE
Australia - Western Australia - Perth	Wed 1:04 PM	1811 km	1125 miles	978 nm	SE
Australia - Western Australia - Mandurah	Wed 1:04 PM	1838 km	1142 miles	993 nm	SE
Indonesia - Java - Yogyakarta	Wed 12:04 PM	1845 km	1146 miles	996 nm	NNE
Indonesia - Java - Jakarta	Wed 12:04 PM	1846 km	1147 miles	997 nm	NNE
Indonesia - Java - Cirebon	Wed 12:04 PM	1852 km	1151 miles	1000 nm	NNE

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?