The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — May 1987
Highlights this month
- 1FriThe Moon passes Mars — 4° apart. (3:33pm)
- 5TueVenus and Jupiter in conjunction — 0.6° apart. (2:19pm)
- 6WedEta Aquariids meteor shower peaks (up to 50/hr). A 52% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 7ThuMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (8:13pm)
- 24SunThe Moon passes Jupiter — 2° apart. (8:16am)
- 25MonThe Moon passes Venus — 4° apart. (10:28pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 | 7:01am | 5:33pm | 10h 32m | 7:02pm | 5:31am |
| Sun 10 | 7:09am | 5:23pm | 10h 14m | 6:54pm | 5:38am |
| Wed 20 | 7:18am | 5:15pm | 9h 57m | 6:47pm | 5:45am |
| Sun 31 | 7:26am | 5:08pm | 9h 42m | 6:42pm | 5:52am |
Days shorten by about 50 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterWed 6, 12:23pm
- Full MoonWed 13, 10:53pm
- Last QuarterWed 20, 2:06pm
- New MoonThu 28, 1:15am
Apogee 4 May (405,000 km) · Perigee 16 May (364,000 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Tau | −1.5 | 8:03am | 12:53pm | 5:43pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Psc | −3.7 | 4:58am | 10:33am | 4:08pm | Morning |
| Mars | Tau | 1.7 | 9:54am | 2:33pm | 7:13pm | Evening |
| Jupiter | Psc | −1.9 | 4:13am | 9:56am | 3:40pm | Morning |
| Saturn | Oph | 0.0 | 6:49pm | 2:08am | 9:22am | Morning |
| Uranus | Oph | 5.6 | 7:08pm | 2:35am | 9:57am | Morning |
| Neptune | Sgr | 7.9 | 8:04pm | 3:25am | 10:42am | Morning |
Meteor showers
- Eta Aquariids — peaks 6 May, radiant in Aquarius (up to 50/hr). Debris of Halley's Comet and one of the best showers of the year from the south — swift meteors in the pre-dawn eastern sky. A 52% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — May 1987
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 20 August 2026.