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 Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 23:16:00 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 Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 23:16:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	17° 55'	North
Longitude:	170° 11'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 441.47 meters/second, 1589.3 km/hour, 987.6 miles/hour or 858.2 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"	16.46 mi	west	0° 00' 00.6"	0.01 mi	north	16.46 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 00.9"	987.35 mi	west	0° 00' 38.3"	0.73 mi	north	987.32 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 19.7"	0.36 mi	west	0° 15' 12.0"	17.42 mi	north	17.43 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 23:16:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	16° 45'	South
Longitude:	79° 29'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 428.35 meters/second, 1542.1 km/hour, 958.2 miles/hour or 832.7 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' 27.7"	15.97 mi	west	0° 00' 08.2"	0.16 mi	north	15.97 mi
1 hour	14° 27' 43.8"	958.06 mi	west	0° 08' 22.2"	9.59 mi	north	958.46 mi
24 hours	12° 27' 44.4"	825.63 mi	east	3° 41' 21.2"	253.67 mi	north	870.77 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
Honolulu	Thu 1:16 PM	1346 km	836 miles	727 nm	ENE
Midway	Thu 12:16 PM	1356 km	843 miles	732 nm	NNW
Baker Island	Thu 11:16 AM	2078 km	1291 miles	1122 nm	SSW
Kiritimati	Fri 1:16 PM	2264 km	1407 miles	1222 nm	SE
Majuro	Fri 11:16 AM	2345 km	1457 miles	1266 nm	WSW
Wake Island	Fri 11:16 AM	2448 km	1521 miles	1322 nm	W
Tarawa	Fri 11:16 AM	2591 km	1610 miles	1399 nm	SW
Fakaofo	Fri 12:16 PM	3020 km	1877 miles	1631 nm	S
Funafuti	Fri 11:16 AM	3148 km	1956 miles	1700 nm	SSW
Yaren	Fri 11:16 AM	3234 km	2009 miles	1746 nm	SW