The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 1981
Highlights this month
- 3MonThe Moon passes Venus — 2° apart. (12:23am)
- 4TueUranus is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (8:01pm)
- 4TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (11:29pm)
- 5WedThe Moon passes Jupiter — 4° apart. (1:02am)
- 10MonMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (3:52pm)
- 13ThuPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A bright 94% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 25TueVenus and Saturn in conjunction — 2° apart. (12:54pm)
- 28FriVenus and Jupiter in conjunction — 0.8° apart. (1:18am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 1 | 7:21am | 5:31pm | 10h 10m | 7:02pm | 5:50am |
| Mon 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 27m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Thu 20 | 6:59am | 5:48pm | 10h 48m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Mon 31 | 6:44am | 5:57pm | 11h 13m | 7:25pm | 5:16am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterSat 8, 5:29am
- Full MoonSun 16, 2:41am
- Last QuarterSun 23, 12:20am
- New MoonSun 30, 12:44am
Apogee 8 Aug (404,800 km) · Perigee 22 Aug (369,800 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | −1.5 | 7:29am | 12:47pm | 6:05pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Vir | −3.8 | 8:38am | 2:33pm | 8:28pm | Evening |
| Mars | Gem | 1.6 | 5:21am | 10:07am | 2:52pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Vir | −1.5 | 9:10am | 3:19pm | 9:28pm | Evening |
| Saturn | Vir | 0.9 | 9:11am | 3:15pm | 9:19pm | Evening |
| Uranus | Lib | 5.6 | 11:15am | 6:20pm | 1:30am | Evening |
| Neptune | Oph | 7.9 | 12:55pm | 8:11pm | 3:31am | 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 bright 94% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — August 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.