The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — September 1981
Highlights this month
- 1TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (1:21pm)
- 1TueThe Moon passes Jupiter — 4° apart. (7:16pm)
- 2WedThe Moon passes Venus — 5° apart. (5:10am)
- 3ThuNeptune is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (6:58pm)
- 9WedMercury and Saturn in conjunction — 3° apart. (3:53pm)
- 12SatMercury and Jupiter in conjunction — 2° apart. (10:29pm)
- 23WedSpring equinox.
- 24ThuMercury at greatest evening elongation (26° from the Sun, mag 0.1) — best evening apparition. (2:15am)
- 24ThuThe Moon passes Mars — 0.1° apart. (3:05pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 6:43am | 5:58pm | 11h 15m | 7:26pm | 5:15am |
| Thu 10 | 6:29am | 6:06pm | 11h 37m | 7:33pm | 5:01am |
| Sun 20 | 6:13am | 6:14pm | 12h 01m | 7:42pm | 4:45am |
| Wed 30 | 5:58am | 6:23pm | 12h 25m | 7:53pm | 4:28am |
Days lengthen by about 70 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterSun 6, 11:25pm
- Full MoonMon 14, 1:15pm
- Last QuarterMon 21, 5:49am
- New MoonMon 28, 2:08pm
Apogee 5 Sep (404,900 km) · Perigee 17 Sep (365,500 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Vir | −0.0 | 7:15am | 1:44pm | 8:14pm | Evening |
| Venus | Vir | −3.9 | 7:59am | 2:44pm | 9:30pm | Evening |
| Mars | Cnc | 1.6 | 4:29am | 9:28am | 2:27pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Vir | −1.5 | 7:22am | 1:39pm | 7:56pm | Evening |
| Saturn | Vir | 0.8 | 7:17am | 1:25pm | 7:33pm | Hidden |
| Uranus | Lib | 5.6 | 9:15am | 4:21pm | 11:27pm | Evening |
| Neptune | Oph | 7.9 | 10:53am | 6:09pm | 1:29am | Evening |
The solar system — September 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.