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 Friday, May 11, 2012 at 17:46:00 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 Friday, May 11, 2012 at 17:46:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	18° 07'	North
Longitude:	87° 41'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 440.99 meters/second, 1587.5 km/hour, 986.5 miles/hour or 857.2 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"	16.44 mi	west	0° 00' 00.6"	0.01 mi	north	16.44 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 00.6"	986.25 mi	west	0° 00' 37.8"	0.72 mi	north	986.22 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 13.0"	0.24 mi	west	0° 14' 57.9"	17.16 mi	north	17.16 mi

Position of the Moon

On Friday, May 11, 2012 at 17:46:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	13° 57'	South
Longitude:	171° 40'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 434.98 meters/second, 1565.9 km/hour, 973.0 miles/hour or 845.5 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' 29.5"	16.22 mi	west	0° 00' 09.7"	0.18 mi	north	16.22 mi
1 hour	14° 29' 30.6"	972.92 mi	west	0° 09' 42.3"	11.12 mi	north	973.32 mi
24 hours	348° 11' 52.0"	792.39 mi	west	4° 07' 01.8"	283.02 mi	north	847.40 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
Chetumal *	Fri 12:46 PM	77 km	48 miles	42 nm	WNW
Belize City	Fri 11:46 AM	87 km	54 miles	47 nm	SW
Orange Walk Town	Fri 11:46 AM	93 km	58 miles	50 nm	W
Belmopan	Fri 11:46 AM	150 km	93 miles	81 nm	SW
Roatán	Fri 11:46 AM	234 km	145 miles	126 nm	SSE
La Ceiba	Fri 11:46 AM	275 km	171 miles	149 nm	SSE
Choloma	Fri 11:46 AM	279 km	173 miles	151 nm	S
Playa del Carmen *	Fri 12:46 PM	285 km	177 miles	154 nm	NNE
Cancún *	Fri 12:46 PM	348 km	216 miles	188 nm	NNE
Merida *	Fri 12:46 PM	375 km	233 miles	203 nm	NNW