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 Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 18:16:00 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 Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 18:16:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	18° 22'	North
Longitude:	95° 11'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 440.34 meters/second, 1585.2 km/hour, 985.0 miles/hour or 856.0 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"	16.42 mi	west	0° 00' 00.6"	0.01 mi	north	16.42 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 00.2"	984.80 mi	west	0° 00' 37.0"	0.71 mi	north	984.77 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 03.8"	0.07 mi	west	0° 14' 39.0"	16.80 mi	north	16.80 mi

Position of the Moon

On Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 18:16:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	9° 45'	South
Longitude:	176° 12'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.72 meters/second, 1593.8 km/hour, 990.3 miles/hour or 860.6 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' 31.5"	16.51 mi	west	0° 00' 10.7"	0.21 mi	north	16.51 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 31.2"	990.30 mi	west	0° 10' 50.0"	12.41 mi	north	990.65 mi
24 hours	348° 54' 12.9"	756.55 mi	west	4° 26' 56.2"	305.75 mi	north	819.95 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
Veracruz *	Sat 1:16 PM	137 km	85 miles	74 nm	NW
Oaxaca *	Sat 1:16 PM	218 km	135 miles	117 nm	SW
Villahermosa *	Sat 1:16 PM	248 km	154 miles	134 nm	E
Tuxtla Gutierrez *	Sat 1:16 PM	284 km	176 miles	153 nm	SE
Mexico City *	Sat 1:16 PM	431 km	268 miles	233 nm	WNW
Acapulco *	Sat 1:16 PM	531 km	330 miles	287 nm	WSW
Guatemala	Sat 12:16 PM	648 km	403 miles	350 nm	SE
Merida *	Sat 1:16 PM	651 km	405 miles	352 nm	ENE
Escuintla	Sat 12:16 PM	651 km	405 miles	352 nm	SE
Belmopan	Sat 12:16 PM	692 km	430 miles	373 nm	E