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 Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 12:56:00 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 Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 12:56:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 08'	North
Longitude:	15° 08'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 435.65 meters/second, 1568.4 km/hour, 974.5 miles/hour or 846.8 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"	16.24 mi	west	0° 00' 00.5"	0.01 mi	north	16.24 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 57.5"	974.27 mi	west	0° 00' 30.6"	0.59 mi	north	974.24 mi
24 hours	0° 01' 02.3"	1.12 mi	east	0° 12' 05.5"	13.87 mi	north	13.91 mi

Position of the Moon

On Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 12:56:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	19° 55'	North
Longitude:	20° 27'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 422.38 meters/second, 1520.6 km/hour, 944.8 miles/hour or 821.0 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' 31.3"	15.75 mi	west	0° 00' 04.5"	0.09 mi	north	15.75 mi
1 hour	14° 31' 19.2"	944.57 mi	west	0° 04' 29.9"	5.16 mi	north	944.36 mi
24 hours	11° 36' 52.0"	755.54 mi	east	1° 22' 15.1"	94.31 mi	north	758.08 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
Nouadhibou	Sun 12:56 PM	218 km	135 miles	118 nm	WNW
Nouakchott	Sun 12:56 PM	243 km	151 miles	131 nm	SSW
Rosso	Sun 12:56 PM	406 km	253 miles	219 nm	S
Touba	Sun 12:56 PM	588 km	365 miles	317 nm	S
Thiès	Sun 12:56 PM	620 km	385 miles	335 nm	SSW
Dakar	Sun 12:56 PM	651 km	405 miles	352 nm	SSW
Farafenni	Sun 12:56 PM	727 km	452 miles	393 nm	S
Banjul	Sun 12:56 PM	755 km	469 miles	408 nm	SSW
Serekunda	Sun 12:56 PM	759 km	471 miles	410 nm	SSW
El Aaiún *	Sun 1:56 PM	802 km	498 miles	433 nm	NNE