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 17:54:00 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 17:54:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	22° 03'	North
Longitude:	89° 20'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 430.08 meters/second, 1548.3 km/hour, 962.1 miles/hour or 836.0 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' 54.3"	961.74 mi	west	0° 00' 20.4"	0.39 mi	north	961.72 mi
24 hours	0° 02' 18.4"	2.47 mi	east	0° 07' 58.3"	9.14 mi	north	9.47 mi

Position of the Moon

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 17:54:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	10° 51'	South
Longitude:	37° 16'	East

The ground speed of the movement is currently 439.14 meters/second, 1580.9 km/hour, 982.3 miles/hour or 853.6 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' 27.3"	16.37 mi	west	0° 00' 11.7"	0.23 mi	south	16.37 mi
1 hour	14° 27' 20.7"	982.16 mi	west	0° 11' 46.8"	13.50 mi	south	981.93 mi
24 hours	13° 27' 20.2"	914.22 mi	east	4° 24' 06.9"	302.63 mi	south	955.75 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
Merida *	Thu 12:54 PM	123 km	76 miles	66 nm	SSW
Cancún *	Thu 12:54 PM	275 km	171 miles	148 nm	ESE
Playa del Carmen *	Thu 12:54 PM	282 km	175 miles	152 nm	ESE
Chetumal *	Thu 12:54 PM	407 km	253 miles	220 nm	SSE
Orange Walk Town	Thu 11:54 AM	446 km	277 miles	241 nm	S
Belize City	Thu 11:54 AM	517 km	321 miles	279 nm	SSE
Belmopan	Thu 11:54 AM	534 km	332 miles	288 nm	S
Tuxtla Gutierrez *	Thu 12:54 PM	708 km	440 miles	382 nm	SW
Havana *	Thu 1:54 PM	724 km	450 miles	391 nm	E
Choloma	Thu 11:54 AM	727 km	452 miles	393 nm	SSE