Day and Night World Map

The map below shows the current position of the Sun and the Moon. It shows which parts of the Earth are in daylight and which are in night.

See where the moon is over the horizon

Map notes

• The day and night parts of the Earth shown are as of Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:18:00 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 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

On Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:18:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 17'	North
Longitude:	5° 40'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 443.05 meters/second, 1595.0 km/hour, 991.1 miles/hour or 861.2 knots.The table below shows the Sun position compared to the time and date above:

Time	Longitude difference			Latitude difference			Total
later	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Distance
1 minute	0° 15' 00.0"	16.52 mi	west	0° 00' 00.7"	0.01 mi	north	16.52 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 01.9"	990.89 mi	west	0° 00' 40.1"	0.77 mi	north	990.86 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 41.3"	0.76 mi	west	0° 15' 55.5"	18.26 mi	north	18.27 mi

Position of the Moon

On Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:18:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	21° 40'	South
Longitude:	150° 31'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 413.33 meters/second, 1488.0 km/hour, 924.6 miles/hour or 803.5 knots.The table below shows the Moon position compared to the time and date above:

Time	Longitude difference			Latitude difference			Total
later	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Degrees	Distance	Direction	Distance
1 minute	0° 14' 22.5"	15.41 mi	west	0° 00' 01.0"	0.02 mi	north	15.41 mi
1 hour	14° 22' 38.1"	924.36 mi	west	0° 01' 02.3"	1.19 mi	north	924.41 mi
24 hours	14° 38' 59.4"	941.87 mi	east	1° 06' 29.9"	76.25 mi	north	948.49 mi

Locations with the Sun near zenith

The following table shows 10 locations with Sun near zenith position in the sky.

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Koutiala	Tue 12:18 PM	542 km	337 miles	292 nm	S
Bamako	Tue 12:18 PM	571 km	355 miles	308 nm	SSW
Koudougou	Tue 12:18 PM	660 km	410 miles	356 nm	SSE
Sikasso	Tue 12:18 PM	660 km	410 miles	356 nm	S
Bobo-Dioulasso	Tue 12:18 PM	691 km	429 miles	373 nm	SSE
Ouagadougou	Tue 12:18 PM	702 km	436 miles	379 nm	SE
Niamey	Tue 1:18 PM	932 km	579 miles	503 nm	ESE
Tamale	Tue 12:18 PM	1015 km	631 miles	548 nm	SSE
Nouakchott	Tue 12:18 PM	1098 km	682 miles	593 nm	W
Yamoussoukro	Tue 12:18 PM	1158 km	719 miles	625 nm	S