The Sky for the Month

The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1973

Computed for The Briars, Mt Martha. Times are local (Melbourne).

6ThuThe Moon passes Mars — 4° apart. (11:41pm)
11TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 0.8° apart. (11:39am)
14FriGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 76% Moon interferes badly this year.
22SatSummer solstice.
22SatUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.
23SunSaturn at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Gemini (mag −0.6). (4:45pm)

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Day length	Astro. dark begins	ends
Fri 1	5:51am	8:27pm	14h 37m	10:20pm	3:59am
Sun 10	5:50am	8:35pm	14h 46m	10:31pm	3:55am
Wed 20	5:52am	8:42pm	14h 50m	10:39pm	3:56am
Sun 31	5:59am	8:46pm	14h 47m	10:42pm	4:03am

Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.

Perigee 11 Dec (358,100 km) · Apogee 26 Dec (406,200 km)

Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.

Planet	In	Mag	Rise	Transit	Set	Best
Mercury	Oph	−0.7	5:00am	12:16pm	7:32pm	Hidden
Venus	Cap	−4.7	9:04am	4:16pm	11:28pm	Evening
Mars	Psc	−0.9	4:00pm	9:26pm	2:55am	Evening
Jupiter	Cap	−1.9	9:37am	4:39pm	11:41pm	Evening
Saturn	Gem	−0.6	9:05pm	1:56am	6:43am	All night
Uranus	Vir	5.6	2:53am	9:26am	3:59pm	Morning
Neptune	Oph	8.0	5:01am	12:10pm	7:20pm	Hidden

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 bright 76% Moon interferes badly this year.
Ursids — peaks 22 December, radiant in Ursa Minor (up to 10/hr). A circumpolar northern shower whose radiant never rises from Victoria. A thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.

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.

Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 24 August 2026.