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 Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 23:50:00 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 Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 23:50:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	19° 08'	North
Longitude:	178° 41'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 438.34 meters/second, 1578.0 km/hour, 980.5 miles/hour or 852.1 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"	16.34 mi	west	0° 00' 00.5"	0.01 mi	north	16.34 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 59.2"	980.30 mi	west	0° 00' 34.3"	0.66 mi	north	980.27 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 24.3"	0.44 mi	east	0° 13' 37.2"	15.62 mi	north	15.62 mi

Position of the Moon

On Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 23:50:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	4° 47'	North
Longitude:	127° 11'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 449.03 meters/second, 1616.5 km/hour, 1004.5 miles/hour or 872.9 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' 34.1"	16.74 mi	west	0° 00' 10.8"	0.21 mi	north	16.74 mi
1 hour	14° 34' 14.4"	1004.44 mi	west	0° 10' 54.0"	12.49 mi	north	1004.38 mi
24 hours	10° 19' 41.4"	711.98 mi	east	4° 13' 13.9"	290.05 mi	north	766.18 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
Midway	Tue 12:50 PM	1014 km	630 miles	547 nm	N
Wake Island	Wed 11:50 AM	1542 km	958 miles	833 nm	W
Majuro	Wed 11:50 AM	1720 km	1069 miles	929 nm	SW
Baker Island	Tue 11:50 AM	2110 km	1311 miles	1139 nm	S
Tarawa	Wed 11:50 AM	2160 km	1342 miles	1166 nm	SSW
Honolulu	Tue 1:50 PM	2188 km	1360 miles	1181 nm	E
Yaren	Wed 11:50 AM	2685 km	1669 miles	1450 nm	SW
Palikir	Wed 10:50 AM	2846 km	1769 miles	1537 nm	WSW
Kiritimati	Wed 1:50 PM	3011 km	1871 miles	1626 nm	SE
Funafuti	Wed 11:50 AM	3068 km	1906 miles	1656 nm	S