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 12:08:00 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 12:08:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 32'	North
Longitude:	3° 10'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.41 meters/second, 1592.7 km/hour, 989.6 miles/hour or 860.0 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' 01.4"	989.45 mi	west	0° 00' 39.3"	0.75 mi	north	989.42 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 32.7"	0.60 mi	west	0° 15' 38.2"	17.92 mi	north	17.93 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 12:08:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 34'	South
Longitude:	133° 28'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 417.19 meters/second, 1501.9 km/hour, 933.2 miles/hour or 811.0 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' 24.3"	15.55 mi	west	0° 00' 04.5"	0.09 mi	north	15.55 mi
1 hour	14° 24' 19.1"	933.02 mi	west	0° 04' 31.7"	5.19 mi	north	933.26 mi
24 hours	13° 50' 38.4"	896.69 mi	east	2° 22' 37.4"	163.52 mi	north	918.06 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
Timbuktu	Wed 12:08 PM	87 km	54 miles	47 nm	SSE
Koudougou	Wed 12:08 PM	592 km	368 miles	320 nm	S
Ouagadougou	Wed 12:08 PM	599 km	372 miles	323 nm	SSE
Koutiala	Wed 12:08 PM	622 km	386 miles	336 nm	SSW
Bobo-Dioulasso	Wed 12:08 PM	714 km	444 miles	386 nm	S
Niamey	Wed 1:08 PM	721 km	448 miles	389 nm	SE
Sikasso	Wed 12:08 PM	740 km	460 miles	400 nm	SSW
Bamako	Wed 12:08 PM	750 km	466 miles	405 nm	SW
Tamale	Wed 12:08 PM	935 km	581 miles	505 nm	SSE
Yamoussoukro	Wed 12:08 PM	1208 km	751 miles	652 nm	S