The Sky for the Month

The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — January 1981

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

Highlights this month

  • 4SunQuadrantids meteor shower peaks (up to 110/hr). A thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.
  • 20TueSaturn is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (5:11am)
  • 25SunJupiter is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (7:59pm)
  • 26MonThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (5:53am)
  • 26MonThe Moon passes Jupiter — 3° apart. (7:07am)

Sun & twilight

DateSunriseSunsetDay lengthAstro. dark beginsends
Wed 16:00am8:47pm14h 47m10:42pm4:04am
Fri 106:08am8:46pm14h 38m10:39pm4:15am
Mon 206:18am8:43pm14h 24m10:31pm4:30am
Fri 316:31am8:35pm14h 04m10:18pm4:47am

Days shorten by about 43 minutes over the month.

The Moon

  • New MoonTue 6, 6:24pm
  • First QuarterTue 13, 9:12pm
  • Full MoonTue 20, 6:42pm
  • Last QuarterWed 28, 3:19pm

Perigee 15 Jan (369,400 km) · Apogee 28 Jan (404,700 km)

The planets

Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.

PlanetInMagRiseTransitSetBest
MercuryCap−1.16:54am2:10pm9:25pmHidden
VenusSgr−3.74:40am12:03pm7:25pmHidden
MarsCap1.27:37am2:41pm9:44pmHidden
JupiterVir−1.912:12am6:23am12:34pmMorning
SaturnVir0.712:16am6:23am12:30pmMorning
UranusLib5.72:22am9:30am4:38pmMorning
NeptuneOph8.03:58am11:15am6:31pmMorning

Meteor showers

  • Quadrantids — peaks 4 January, radiant in Boötes (up to 110/hr). Radiant stays below the horizon from Victoria — essentially a no-show this far south. A thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.

The solar system — January 1981

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.

Looking for an earlier month? Browse all past monthly guides →

Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 23 August 2026.