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 Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 01:28:00 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' 59" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 46" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 446.69 meters/second, 1608.1 km/hour, 999.2 miles/hour or 868.3 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Australia - Queensland - Mackay	Thu 11:28 AM	784 km	487 miles	423 nm	SWbS
Australia - Queensland - Townsville	Thu 11:28 AM	850 km	528 miles	459 nm	SWbW
Australia - Queensland - Cairns	Thu 11:28 AM	885 km	550 miles	478 nm	WbS
Australia - Queensland - Rockhampton	Thu 11:28 AM	924 km	574 miles	499 nm	SSW
Solomon Islands - Honiara	Thu 12:28 PM	964 km	599 miles	520 nm	NE
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby	Thu 11:28 AM	1004 km	624 miles	542 nm	NW
Australia - Queensland - Bundaberg	Thu 11:28 AM	1029 km	639 miles	556 nm	SbW
Australia - Queensland - Hervey Bay	Thu 11:28 AM	1070 km	665 miles	578 nm	S
Australia - Queensland - Sunshine Coast	Thu 11:28 AM	1224 km	760 miles	661 nm	S
Australia - Queensland - Brisbane	Thu 11:28 AM	1310 km	814 miles	707 nm	S

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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