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 23:08:00 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 23:08:00 UTC the Sun is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 48'	North
Longitude:	168° 04'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 433.77 meters/second, 1561.6 km/hour, 970.3 miles/hour or 843.2 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"	16.17 mi	west	0° 00' 00.5"	0.01 mi	north	16.17 mi
1 hour	14° 59' 56.5"	970.03 mi	west	0° 00' 27.5"	0.53 mi	north	970.01 mi
24 hours	0° 01' 28.2"	1.59 mi	east	0° 10' 52.9"	12.48 mi	north	12.58 mi

Position of the Moon

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 23:08:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates:

Latitude:	20° 36'	North
Longitude:	132° 60'	West

The ground speed of the movement is currently 420.02 meters/second, 1512.1 km/hour, 939.6 miles/hour or 816.5 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"	15.66 mi	west	0° 00' 03.7"	0.07 mi	south	15.66 mi
1 hour	14° 30' 15.5"	939.31 mi	west	0° 03' 46.0"	4.32 mi	south	939.51 mi
24 hours	11° 50' 05.0"	766.51 mi	east	1° 57' 43.7"	134.98 mi	south	782.99 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
Honolulu	Wed 1:08 PM	1063 km	660 miles	574 nm	E
Midway	Wed 12:08 PM	1250 km	777 miles	675 nm	NW
Kiritimati	Thu 1:08 PM	2397 km	1489 miles	1294 nm	SSE
Baker Island	Wed 11:08 AM	2456 km	1526 miles	1326 nm	SSW
Wake Island	Thu 11:08 AM	2648 km	1645 miles	1430 nm	W
Majuro	Thu 11:08 AM	2696 km	1675 miles	1455 nm	WSW
Tarawa	Thu 11:08 AM	2971 km	1846 miles	1604 nm	SW
Fakaofo	Thu 12:08 PM	3354 km	2084 miles	1811 nm	S
Adak *	Wed 2:08 PM	3528 km	2192 miles	1905 nm	N
Funafuti	Thu 11:08 AM	3528 km	2192 miles	1905 nm	SSW