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 14:56:00 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 14:56:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	19° 31'	North
Longitude:	45° 10'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 437.35 meters/second, 1574.5 km/hour, 978.3 miles/hour or 850.1 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"	16.31 mi	west	0° 00' 00.6"	0.01 mi	north	16.31 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 58.6"	978.09 mi	west	0° 00' 33.0"	0.63 mi	north	978.06 mi
24 hours	0° 00' 38.2"	0.69 mi	east	0° 13' 05.0"	15.00 mi	north	15.02 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 14:56:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	11° 28'	North
Longitude:	82° 25'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 441.39 meters/second, 1589.0 km/hour, 987.4 miles/hour or 858.0 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' 33.6"	16.46 mi	west	0° 00' 09.5"	0.18 mi	north	16.46 mi
1 hour	14° 33' 43.4"	987.26 mi	west	0° 09' 25.9"	10.81 mi	north	987.04 mi
24 hours	10° 38' 34.5"	721.59 mi	east	3° 31' 23.5"	242.22 mi	north	756.46 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
Bridgetown	Thu 10:56 AM	1698 km	1055 miles	917 nm	WSW
Fort-de-France	Thu 10:56 AM	1776 km	1104 miles	959 nm	WSW
Saint John's (Antigua)	Thu 10:56 AM	1782 km	1107 miles	962 nm	W
Roseau	Thu 10:56 AM	1783 km	1108 miles	963 nm	WSW
Cayenne	Thu 11:56 AM	1790 km	1112 miles	966 nm	SSW
Castries	Thu 10:56 AM	1791 km	1113 miles	967 nm	WSW
Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe)	Thu 10:56 AM	1798 km	1117 miles	971 nm	W
Kingstown	Thu 10:56 AM	1852 km	1151 miles	1000 nm	WSW
Paramaribo	Thu 11:56 AM	1861 km	1157 miles	1005 nm	SW
Basseterre (St. Kitts)	Thu 10:56 AM	1869 km	1161 miles	1009 nm	W