The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 1977
Highlights this month
- 9TueMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (5:56am)
- 9TueThe Moon passes Mars — 4° apart. (9:39pm)
- 10WedThe Moon passes Jupiter — 4° apart. (11:17pm)
- 11ThuThe Moon passes Venus — 4° apart. (10:54pm)
- 13SatPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A thin 3% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 13SatSaturn in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (4:07pm)
- 17WedThe Moon passes Mercury — 0.8° apart. (9:38am)
- 22MonMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (8:46am)
- 25ThuNeptune is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (11:32pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1 | 7:21am | 5:31pm | 10h 10m | 7:02pm | 5:50am |
| Wed 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 27m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Sat 20 | 7:00am | 5:48pm | 10h 48m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Wed 31 | 6:44am | 5:57pm | 11h 13m | 7:25pm | 5:16am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Last QuarterSun 7, 6:48am
- New MoonMon 15, 7:34am
- First QuarterMon 22, 11:02am
- Full MoonMon 29, 6:09am
Apogee 9 Aug (405,000 km) · Perigee 24 Aug (368,800 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.5 | 8:03am | 1:59pm | 7:56pm | Evening |
| Venus | Gem | −3.9 | 4:56am | 9:47am | 2:38pm | Morning |
| Mars | Tau | 0.9 | 3:14am | 8:00am | 12:46pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Tau | −1.8 | 3:58am | 8:43am | 1:27pm | Morning |
| Saturn | Leo | 0.3 | 7:08am | 12:20pm | 5:31pm | Hidden |
| Uranus | Lib | 5.6 | 10:22am | 5:09pm | 11:56pm | Evening |
| Neptune | Oph | 7.9 | 12:22pm | 7:34pm | 2:50am | 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 thin 3% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — August 1977
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.