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 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 02:36:00 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 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 02:36:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 38'	North
Longitude:	139° 55'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 434.23 meters/second, 1563.2 km/hour, 971.3 miles/hour or 844.1 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° 14' 59.9"	16.19 mi	west	0° 00' 00.5"	0.01 mi	north	16.19 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 56.6"	971.06 mi	west	0° 00' 28.4"	0.54 mi	north	971.04 mi
24 hours	0° 01' 22.0"	1.48 mi	east	0° 11' 11.3"	12.83 mi	north	12.91 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 02:36:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	21° 30'	North
Longitude:	164° 48'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 417.42 meters/second, 1502.7 km/hour, 933.7 miles/hour or 811.4 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' 30.2"	15.56 mi	west	0° 00' 01.6"	0.03 mi	south	15.56 mi
1 hour	14° 30' 09.2"	933.47 mi	west	0° 01' 39.1"	1.90 mi	south	933.56 mi
24 hours	11° 55' 15.3"	767.39 mi	east	1° 08' 13.0"	78.22 mi	south	774.29 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
Saipan	Wed 12:36 PM	862 km	536 miles	466 nm	SE
Guam (Hagåtña)	Wed 12:36 PM	945 km	587 miles	510 nm	SSE
Melekeok	Wed 11:36 AM	1561 km	970 miles	843 nm	SSW
Hamamatsu	Wed 11:36 AM	1574 km	978 miles	850 nm	N
Shizuoka	Wed 11:36 AM	1597 km	992 miles	862 nm	N
Osaka	Wed 11:36 AM	1614 km	1003 miles	872 nm	NNW
Kobe	Wed 11:36 AM	1625 km	1010 miles	877 nm	NNW
Kumamoto	Wed 11:36 AM	1628 km	1012 miles	879 nm	NNW
Nagoya	Wed 11:36 AM	1637 km	1017 miles	884 nm	N
Yokohama	Wed 11:36 AM	1642 km	1020 miles	887 nm	N