The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — February 1981
Highlights this month
- 2MonMercury at greatest evening elongation (18° from the Sun, mag −0.6) — best evening apparition. (11:59am)
- 8SunMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (8:59am)
- 17TueMercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (10:25pm)
- 22SunThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (12:16pm)
- 22SunThe Moon passes Jupiter — 3° apart. (12:57pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 1 | 6:32am | 8:34pm | 14h 02m | 10:17pm | 4:49am |
| Mon 10 | 6:43am | 8:25pm | 13h 42m | 10:04pm | 5:04am |
| Thu 20 | 6:54am | 8:13pm | 13h 19m | 9:48pm | 5:19am |
| Fri 28 | 7:02am | 8:02pm | 13h 00m | 9:34pm | 5:30am |
Days shorten by about 62 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- New MoonThu 5, 9:14am
- First QuarterThu 12, 4:51am
- Full MoonThu 19, 10:02am
- Last QuarterFri 27, 12:13pm
Perigee 9 Feb (368,200 km) · Apogee 25 Feb (405,100 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Aqr | 4.6 | 7:23am | 1:48pm | 8:13pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Cap | −3.7 | 5:43am | 12:45pm | 7:46pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Aqr | 1.2 | 7:39am | 2:14pm | 8:49pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Vir | −2.1 | 10:06pm | 4:19am | 10:29am | Morning |
| Saturn | Vir | 0.5 | 10:09pm | 4:19am | 10:25am | Morning |
| Uranus | Lib | 5.6 | 12:24am | 7:32am | 2:41pm | Morning |
| Neptune | Oph | 7.9 | 2:00am | 9:16am | 4:33pm | Morning |
The solar system — February 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.
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 23 August 2026.