The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 1970
Highlights this month
- 2SunMars in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (9:50pm)
- 4TueThe Moon passes Mercury — 0.4° apart. (10:18pm)
- 6ThuThe Moon passes Venus — 2° apart. (5:36pm)
- 10MonNeptune is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (7:19pm)
- 13ThuPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A bright 80% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 17MonMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (1:27am)
- 30SunMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (4:55am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 1 | 7:22am | 5:31pm | 10h 09m | 7:02pm | 5:51am |
| Mon 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 26m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Thu 20 | 7:00am | 5:47pm | 10h 47m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Mon 31 | 6:45am | 5:57pm | 11h 12m | 7:25pm | 5:17am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- New MoonSun 2, 3:57pm
- First QuarterMon 10, 6:55pm
- Full Moon SupermoonMon 17, 1:20pm
- Last QuarterMon 24, 6:31am
Apogee 4 Aug (406,200 km) · Perigee 17 Aug (356,700 km) · Apogee 31 Aug (406,200 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.2 | 8:11am | 2:05pm | 8:00pm | Evening |
| Venus | Vir | −4.2 | 8:59am | 3:13pm | 9:27pm | Evening |
| Mars | Cnc | 1.8 | 7:02am | 12:10pm | 5:19pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Vir | −1.6 | 10:04am | 4:40pm | 11:15pm | Evening |
| Saturn | Ari | 0.1 | 1:01am | 6:10am | 11:20am | Morning |
| Uranus | Vir | 5.6 | 9:03am | 3:11pm | 9:19pm | Evening |
| Neptune | Lib | 7.9 | 11:30am | 6:32pm | 1:37am | Evening |
Meteor showers
- Perseids — peaks 13 August, radiant in Perseus (up to 100/hr). The famous northern shower, but its far-northern radiant scarcely rises from Victoria — only a trickle this far south. A bright 80% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — August 1970
Evening sky Morning sky Up much of the night Lost in the Sun’s glare
Open the full interactive orrery ↗ — fast-forward, pick any date, toggle the Moon and more.
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 24 August 2026.