Midday

Midday or noon is the time exactly halfway through the day.

Baku Street at Noon (1861) by Alexey Bogolyubov, depicting shadows from the sun at its highest point over the city of Baku.

Solar midday is when the sun appears the highest in the sky in zenith, compared to its positions during the rest of the day. It occurs when the Sun is exactly halfway between sunrise and sunset. This is also the origin of the terms am and pm, ante meridiem and post meridiem. At solar midday, the sun is due south seen from the Northern Hemisphere, and due north seen from the Southern Hemisphere. The sun is directly overhead at solar midday at the Equator on the equinoxes; at Tropic of Cancer (latitude 23½°N) on the summer solstice in June; and at Tropic of Capricorn (23½°S) on the winter solstice in December.

Because of the use of time zones and daylight saving time, the highest point of the sun and a clock time of midday are usually different.

The opposite of midday is midnight.

Cultural meanings

In traditional magical thinking, midday represents with heaven, order and life.