The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1976
Highlights this month
- 5SunThe Moon passes Jupiter — 0.8° apart. (11:17am)
- 6MonNeptune in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (3:33am)
- 14TueGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A 52% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 20MonMercury at greatest evening elongation (20° from the Sun, mag −0.5) — best evening apparition. (9:03pm)
- 22WedSummer solstice.
- 22WedUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 2% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 28TueMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (9:06am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 5:51am | 8:28pm | 14h 37m | 10:20pm | 3:58am |
| Thu 10 | 5:50am | 8:36pm | 14h 46m | 10:31pm | 3:55am |
| Sun 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:56am |
| Thu 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:42pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 10 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonTue 7, 5:19am
- Last QuarterTue 14, 9:21pm
- New MoonTue 21, 1:06pm
- First QuarterTue 28, 6:50pm
Apogee 4 Dec (406,000 km) · Perigee 19 Dec (361,000 km) · Apogee 31 Dec (405,400 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sgr | −0.6 | 7:09am | 2:39pm | 10:09pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Cap | −4.1 | 9:09am | 4:22pm | 11:35pm | Evening |
| Mars | Oph | 1.4 | 5:27am | 12:50pm | 8:12pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Ari | −2.6 | 6:00pm | 11:05pm | 4:14am | Evening |
| Saturn | Cnc | 0.1 | 11:51pm | 5:03am | 10:11am | Morning |
| Uranus | Lib | 5.6 | 3:27am | 10:16am | 5:05pm | Morning |
| Neptune | Oph | 8.0 | 5:23am | 12:36pm | 7:49pm | 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 52% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- Ursids — peaks 22 December, radiant in Ursa Minor (up to 10/hr). A circumpolar northern shower whose radiant never rises from Victoria. A thin 2% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — December 1976
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 23 August 2026.