Day and night map

Where the sun is up and where it's dark, right now. Move the slider or pick a date to see any other time, or play a whole day through.

Why the line curves

The edge of the night is a circle round the earth, and a flat map stretches it into a wave. In June the north is tipped towards the sun, so the far north stays light while the far south is dark. In December it's the other way round.

At the equinoxes in March and September the line runs nearly straight from pole to pole, and day and night are close to twelve hours each everywhere.

The shades of dark

The night doesn't start at one edge. Next to the daylight is civil twilight, still light enough to be outside without a torch, then nautical and astronomical twilight, and only after that full night. Each band of shading on the map is one of those.

Questions people ask

Is the map live?

Yes. While it says Live it moves on by itself every half a minute. Pick a date or move the slider and it stays at that time until you press Back to now.

What's the yellow dot?

The place where the sun is straight overhead at that moment. It's always between the tropics, furthest north in June and furthest south in December.

Can I see the sunrise time for somewhere on the map?

Tap or click it. A card shows how light it is there, the local time, and that day's sunrise and sunset, with a link to the whole year for that place.

Which time is the slider in?

Your own time, from your phone or computer. The same moment in UTC is shown next to it.

Does it cost anything?

No. There's no account to make and nothing to install.

Sun and time: Sunrise and sunset times · World clock · Time zone map