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 20:42:00 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 20:42:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	18° 24'	North
Longitude:	131° 41'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 440.28 meters/second, 1585.0 km/hour, 984.9 miles/hour or 855.8 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"	16.42 mi	west	0° 00' 00.5"	0.01 mi	north	16.42 mi
1 hour	15° 00' 00.3"	984.66 mi	west	0° 00' 36.9"	0.71 mi	north	984.63 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 03.0"	0.05 mi	west	0° 14' 37.1"	16.76 mi	north	16.76 mi

Position of the Moon

On Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 20:42:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	9° 19'	South
Longitude:	140° 51'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 443.38 meters/second, 1596.2 km/hour, 991.8 miles/hour or 861.9 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' 31.7"	16.53 mi	west	0° 00' 10.8"	0.21 mi	north	16.53 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 41.4"	991.77 mi	west	0° 10' 54.6"	12.50 mi	north	992.11 mi
24 hours	11° 02' 18.0"	753.56 mi	east	4° 28' 08.7"	307.13 mi	north	817.48 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
Tijuana *	Sat 1:42 PM	2147 km	1334 miles	1159 nm	NE
San Diego *	Sat 1:42 PM	2152 km	1337 miles	1162 nm	NE
Los Angeles *	Sat 1:42 PM	2189 km	1360 miles	1182 nm	NE
Mexicali *	Sat 1:42 PM	2265 km	1407 miles	1223 nm	NE
San Jose (USA) *	Sat 1:42 PM	2307 km	1433 miles	1246 nm	NNE
San Francisco *	Sat 1:42 PM	2328 km	1447 miles	1257 nm	NNE
Hermosillo	Sat 1:42 PM	2415 km	1501 miles	1304 nm	ENE
Sacramento *	Sat 1:42 PM	2445 km	1519 miles	1320 nm	NNE
Las Vegas *	Sat 1:42 PM	2550 km	1584 miles	1377 nm	NE
Phoenix	Sat 1:42 PM	2569 km	1596 miles	1387 nm	NE