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 15:56:00 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 15:56:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 35'	North
Longitude:	60° 10'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.31 meters/second, 1592.3 km/hour, 989.4 miles/hour or 859.8 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"	16.49 mi	west	0° 00' 00.7"	0.01 mi	north	16.49 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 01.4"	989.23 mi	west	0° 00' 39.2"	0.75 mi	north	989.20 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 31.2"	0.57 mi	west	0° 15' 35.4"	17.87 mi	north	17.88 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 15:56:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 17'	South
Longitude:	171° 47'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 418.16 meters/second, 1505.4 km/hour, 935.4 miles/hour or 812.8 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' 24.5"	15.59 mi	west	0° 00' 05.0"	0.09 mi	north	15.59 mi
1 hour	14° 24' 39.3"	935.19 mi	west	0° 05' 01.6"	5.76 mi	north	935.46 mi
24 hours	346° 18' 08.6"	888.93 mi	west	2° 33' 07.8"	175.56 mi	north	912.95 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
Saint John's (Antigua)	Wed 11:56 AM	186 km	115 miles	100 nm	WSW
Pointe-à-Pitre	Wed 11:56 AM	208 km	129 miles	112 nm	SW
Brades	Wed 11:56 AM	234 km	145 miles	126 nm	WSW
Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe)	Wed 11:56 AM	242 km	150 miles	131 nm	SW
Basseterre (St. Kitts)	Wed 11:56 AM	272 km	169 miles	147 nm	W
Roseau	Wed 11:56 AM	284 km	176 miles	153 nm	SSW
Gustavia	Wed 11:56 AM	286 km	178 miles	154 nm	W
Marigot	Wed 11:56 AM	313 km	195 miles	169 nm	W
The Valley	Wed 11:56 AM	315 km	196 miles	170 nm	WNW
Fort-de-France	Wed 11:56 AM	343 km	213 miles	185 nm	SSW