The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1971
Highlights this month
- 3FriMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (1:56pm)
- 10FriJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (3:14pm)
- 13MonMercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (7:56am)
- 14TueGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A thin 12% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 22WedSummer solstice.
- 22WedUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 21% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 23ThuMercury is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (8:29am)
- 25SatThe Moon passes Mars — 4° apart. (5:34am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 5:51am | 8:27pm | 14h 36m | 10:19pm | 3:59am |
| Thu 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 45m | 10:30pm | 3:55am |
| Sun 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:55am |
| Thu 31 | 5:58am | 8:46pm | 14h 48m | 10:42pm | 4:02am |
Days lengthen by about 12 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonThu 2, 6:50pm
- Last QuarterFri 10, 3:07am
- New MoonSat 18, 6:03am
- First QuarterSat 25, 12:36pm
Apogee 12 Dec (405,200 km) · Perigee 28 Dec (367,500 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Oph | 4.6 | 5:43am | 12:53pm | 8:02pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Sgr | −3.7 | 7:50am | 3:15pm | 10:39pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Psc | 0.1 | 1:07pm | 7:21pm | 1:36am | Evening |
| Jupiter | Oph | −1.6 | 5:39am | 12:58pm | 8:17pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Tau | −0.4 | 6:44pm | 11:45pm | 4:51am | Evening |
| Uranus | Vir | 5.5 | 2:32am | 8:54am | 3:16pm | Morning |
| Neptune | Sco | 8.0 | 4:49am | 11:55am | 7:01pm | Hidden |
Meteor showers
- Geminids — peaks 14 December, radiant in Gemini (up to 150/hr). The richest shower of the year; the radiant reaches a useful altitude after local midnight, so it rewards southern observers well. A thin 12% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- Ursids — peaks 22 December, radiant in Ursa Minor (up to 10/hr). A circumpolar northern shower whose radiant never rises from Victoria. A thin 21% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — December 1971
Evening sky Morning sky Up much of the night Lost in the Sun’s glare
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 24 August 2026.