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 Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 04:58:00 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 Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 04:58:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 28'	North
Longitude:	104° 20'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.60 meters/second, 1593.4 km/hour, 990.1 miles/hour or 860.3 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"	16.50 mi	west	0° 00' 00.7"	0.01 mi	north	16.50 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 01.5"	989.88 mi	west	0° 00' 39.6"	0.76 mi	north	989.86 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 35.2"	0.65 mi	west	0° 15' 43.5"	18.02 mi	north	18.04 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 04:58:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	21° 03'	South
Longitude:	30° 16'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 415.60 meters/second, 1496.2 km/hour, 929.7 miles/hour or 807.9 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' 23.6"	15.50 mi	west	0° 00' 03.4"	0.07 mi	north	15.50 mi
1 hour	14° 23' 43.4"	929.45 mi	west	0° 03' 32.5"	4.06 mi	north	929.64 mi
24 hours	14° 06' 36.9"	911.05 mi	east	2° 01' 31.6"	139.34 mi	north	927.56 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
Sakon Nakhon	Wed 11:58 AM	38 km	24 miles	21 nm	SSW
Wanon Niwat	Wed 11:58 AM	64 km	40 miles	35 nm	WNW
Savannakhet	Wed 11:58 AM	109 km	68 miles	59 nm	SSE
Udon Thani	Wed 11:58 AM	164 km	102 miles	88 nm	W
Vientiane	Wed 11:58 AM	191 km	119 miles	103 nm	WNW
Khon Kaen	Wed 11:58 AM	196 km	122 miles	106 nm	SW
Pakse	Wed 11:58 AM	303 km	188 miles	163 nm	SSE
Luang Prabang	Wed 11:58 AM	355 km	220 miles	192 nm	NW
Hanoi	Wed 11:58 AM	426 km	265 miles	230 nm	NNE
Hai Phong	Wed 11:58 AM	450 km	280 miles	243 nm	NNE