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 17, 2012 at 12:10:00 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 17, 2012 at 12:10:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	19° 29'	North
Longitude:	3° 40'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 437.42 meters/second, 1574.7 km/hour, 978.5 miles/hour or 850.3 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"	16.31 mi	west	0° 00' 00.6"	0.01 mi	north	16.31 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 58.6"	978.24 mi	west	0° 00' 33.1"	0.63 mi	north	978.22 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 37.3"	0.68 mi	east	0° 13' 07.4"	15.05 mi	north	15.06 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 12:10:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	11° 02'	North
Longitude:	42° 08'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 442.10 meters/second, 1591.5 km/hour, 988.9 miles/hour or 859.4 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' 33.8"	16.48 mi	west	0° 00' 09.5"	0.18 mi	north	16.48 mi
1 hour	14° 33' 47.4"	988.84 mi	west	0° 09' 34.0"	10.96 mi	north	988.63 mi
24 hours	10° 36' 36.5"	720.46 mi	east	3° 35' 05.4"	246.44 mi	north	756.85 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
Koutiala	Thu 12:10 PM	808 km	502 miles	437 nm	SSW
Koudougou	Thu 12:10 PM	813 km	505 miles	439 nm	S
Ouagadougou	Thu 12:10 PM	820 km	510 miles	443 nm	SSE
Bamako	Thu 12:10 PM	887 km	551 miles	479 nm	SSW
Niamey	Thu 1:10 PM	904 km	562 miles	488 nm	SE
Bobo-Dioulasso	Thu 12:10 PM	921 km	572 miles	497 nm	S
Sikasso	Thu 12:10 PM	929 km	577 miles	502 nm	SSW
El Aaiún *	Thu 1:10 PM	1291 km	802 miles	697 nm	NW
Nouakchott	Thu 12:10 PM	1306 km	812 miles	705 nm	W
Yamoussoukro	Thu 12:10 PM	1412 km	877 miles	762 nm	S