<P> Noon (also midday or noon time) is 12 o'clock in the daytime, as opposed to midnight . The term 12 p.m. (often written as 12pm) is sometimes used for noon but this may be considered to be ambiguous and, therefore, technically incorrect . </P> <P> Solar noon is when the Sun transits the local celestial meridian; this is when the sun is at its highest altitude in the sky, at 12 noon apparent solar time . The local or clock time of solar noon depends on the longitude and date . </P> <P> In many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere, noon had ancient geographic associations with the direction "south" (as did midnight with "north" in some cultures). Remnants of the noon = south association are preserved in the words for noon in French (Midi) and Italian (Mezzogiorno), both of which also refer to the southern parts of the respective countries . Modern Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Serbian go a step farther, with the words for noon (południe, поўдзень, південь, пoднe--literally "half - day") also meaning "south" and the words for "midnight" (północ, поўнач, північ, пoнoħ--literally "half - night", as with English mid (dle) meaning "half") also meaning "north". </P>

When does the sun reach its highest point