Editing 1335: Now

| titletext = This image stays roughly in sync with the day (assuming the Earth continues spinning). Shortcut: xkcd.com/now

*For the current state, see [http://xkcd.com/now/ xkcd.com/now].

The picture is divided in 24 segments representing the 24 hours of the day. At noon and midnight, the break between segments is indicated by the tip of a dark grey triangle.

The picture rotates by 3.75 {{w|degree (angle)|degrees}} every 15 minutes, as does the Earth so that it is constantly up to date in showing which regions are currently at which times of day. The picture change seems to happen halfway through a 15-minute time increment (that is, at 7½, 22½, 37½, and 52½ minutes after each hour), so that the picture is always correct for the nearest multiple of 15 minutes.

The map projection of the earth in the middle of the picture shows an {{w|azimuthal equidistant projection}} with the {{w|South Pole}} in the center. This is unusual, as such projections {{w|Flag of the United Nations|typically}} put the {{w|North Pole}} in the center. But, in this case, may be necessary for the map rotation and the corresponding {{w|24-hour analog dial|24-hour clock}} graduations to both be the more conventional clockwise. Another reason might be just to depict all major land-masses (including {{w|Time in Antarctica|complicated Antarctica}}, which is not otherwise referenced) in a non-discontinuous manner. [[Randall]] was playing on projections before in [[977: Map Projections]].

The list of cities and countries doesn't match the map exactly - notice how the continent of Australia is shifted counterclockwise of the words "most Australian cities". This is because the map is centered relative to the {{w|time zone}}s and the local variations. The map shows the configuration of time zones concerning {{w|daylight saving time}} (also known as summer time) at the time of the comic's initial release (February 2014); it was being observed in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and other countries not named in this comic. If the map were to stay accurate through the year, the location of place names would have to move over the next few months as parts of the southern hemisphere went off DST and parts of the northern hemisphere went onto it; however, the map failed to change on the morning of March 9 as it should have (to recognize the start of DST in North America).

In many countries "{{w|business hours}}" are considered to be from 9  am to 5  pm. With some exceptions, including emergencies, it is generally considered rude to place a {{w|telephone}} call to someone's residence when most people are asleep; Randall portrays this period as extending from 10 pm to 8 am.  This may be a reference to the 10 pm "cutoff" time [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0WeQJW-H3Y discussed] in an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

 

At midnight at UTC we can see this situation:

::The {{w|Levant}}

*04:00 UTC {{w|UTC+04:00}}

::{{w|Moscow Time}} (became UTC+03:00 on 26 October 2014, a couple of years after the publication of this comic)

::China only use {{w|Time in China|one time zone}} (+08:00) but Xinjiang and Tibet unofficially use +06:00

::Kamchatka (a Russian peninsula at the east Siberia), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu and more

::New Zealand, Kiribati, Tonga

::French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and more

::{{W|Time in Alaska|Alaska}} (some islands of Alaska is at -10:00 and a few city's are at -08:00)

::French Polynesia  

*16:00 UTC {{w|UTC−08:00}} or {{w|Pacific Time Zone}}

::Canada or (British Columbia and Yukon)

*17:00 UTC {{w|UTC−07:00}} or {{w|Mountain Time Zone}}

*18:00 UTC {{w|UTC−06:00}} or {{w|Central Time Zone}}

*19:00 UTC {{w|UTC−05:00}} or {{w|Eastern Time Zone}}

::Canadian Maritimes: New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia. (Newfoundland uses {{w|UTC-03:30}})

::Azores (part of Portugal)

:[The outermost part of the static ring is divided in 22 segments representing the 24 hours of the day. The Noon (11 AM - 1 PM) and Midnight (11 PM - 1 AM) segments cover two hours which are not segmented. The ring is divided so it is yellow from 6 AM to 6 PM and dark grey on the other half.]

:[The innermost part of the static ring is light grey and divided in two sections that cower from 9 AM to 5 PM and from 10 PM to 8 AM respectively. They  contain descriptions of the time intervals.]

::Business hours (9-5)

::Rude to call

:[The rest of the image consist of a rotating part.]

:[On the innermost part of the circle is the Earth as seen from the south pole. Each continent has a different color. The colors are

:*Europe: Red

:*Africa: Cyan

:*Asia: Green

:*North America: Blue-violet

:[Two segmented rings circle the map - these give the names of the continents (not the Antactica) and the color of the ring match the color of the continent on the map. Each segment cover the part of the map with the given continent. The one with Europe is merged with the one for Asia - and the color also merges from red to green along Turkey and Russia where the transition from Europe to Asia occurs.]

:[On the inner ring are the names of the following continents (white text on a segment with the color of the continent)]

::Africa

::Oceania

:[On the second of these rings are the names of the following continents (white text on a segment with the color of the continent)]

 

:[On the outermost ring of the moving circle are written names of regions, countries and cities of the Earth over the part of the map in which time zone they belong. All the text is color coded to match the color of the continent they belong to as given on the central map. The text is written in four lines. Below the names are sorted by color and reading from left to right first - and only sorting top to bottom if needed.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:An [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.phillab.xkcd_now Android widget] version of the comic.

 

 

|[http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/now/23h00m.png 23h00m]<br />[http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/now/23h15m.png 23h15m]<br />[http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/now/23h30m.png 23h30m]<br />[http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/now/23h45m.png 23h45m]