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 31, 2012 at 10:36:00 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 Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 10:36:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 00'	North
Longitude:	20° 10'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 430.21 meters/second, 1548.7 km/hour, 962.3 miles/hour or 836.3 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° 14' 59.9"	16.04 mi	west	0° 00' 00.3"	0.01 mi	north	16.04 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 54.4"	962.03 mi	west	0° 00' 20.6"	0.40 mi	north	962.01 mi
24 hours	0° 02' 16.6"	2.44 mi	east	0° 08' 05.3"	9.28 mi	north	9.59 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 10:36:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	9° 23'	South
Longitude:	142° 50'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 441.42 meters/second, 1589.1 km/hour, 987.4 miles/hour or 858.1 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' 27.9"	16.46 mi	west	0° 00' 12.1"	0.23 mi	south	16.46 mi
1 hour	14° 27' 56.1"	987.29 mi	west	0° 12' 08.2"	13.91 mi	south	987.10 mi
24 hours	13° 12' 21.9"	901.34 mi	east	4° 35' 58.8"	316.19 mi	south	948.63 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
Kufra	Thu 12:36 PM	402 km	250 miles	217 nm	NE
Ndjamena	Thu 11:36 AM	1222 km	759 miles	660 nm	SSW
Tripoli	Thu 12:36 PM	1389 km	863 miles	750 nm	NNW
Alexandria	Thu 12:36 PM	1410 km	876 miles	761 nm	NE
Al Jizah	Thu 12:36 PM	1416 km	880 miles	765 nm	NE
Cairo	Thu 12:36 PM	1421 km	883 miles	767 nm	NE
Khartoum	Thu 1:36 PM	1483 km	922 miles	801 nm	ESE
Valletta *	Thu 12:36 PM	1635 km	1016 miles	883 nm	NNW
Kano	Thu 11:36 AM	1661 km	1032 miles	897 nm	SW
Athens *	Thu 1:36 PM	1804 km	1121 miles	974 nm	N