The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1989
Highlights this month
- 1FriThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (7:12pm)
- 2SatThe Moon passes Venus — 0.8° apart. (6:17pm)
- 14ThuThe Moon passes Jupiter — 3° apart. (7:52am)
- 14ThuGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 97% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 22FriSummer solstice.
- 22FriUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A 29% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 23SatMercury at greatest evening elongation (20° from the Sun, mag −0.5) — best evening apparition. (6:51pm)
- 27WedUranus in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (5:09pm)
- 28ThuJupiter at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Gemini (mag −2.6). (12:40am)
- 28ThuVenus is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (9:31am)
- 31SunMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (3:15am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 | 5:51am | 8:27pm | 14h 37m | 10:20pm | 3:58am |
| Sat 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 46m | 10:31pm | 3:55am |
| Tue 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:56am |
| Sat 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:42pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterWed 6, 12:29pm
- Full MoonWed 13, 3:31am
- Last QuarterWed 20, 10:59am
- New MoonThu 28, 2:20pm
Perigee 11 Dec (361,700 km) · Apogee 23 Dec (405,300 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sgr | −0.6 | 7:02am | 2:34pm | 10:05pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Cap | −4.8 | 8:53am | 4:06pm | 11:19pm | Evening |
| Mars | Lib | 1.6 | 4:20am | 11:28am | 6:36pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Gem | −2.5 | 9:31pm | 2:19am | 7:03am | Morning |
| Saturn | Sgr | 0.4 | 7:26am | 2:44pm | 10:02pm | Hidden |
| Uranus | Sgr | 5.8 | 6:43am | 2:06pm | 9:28pm | Hidden |
| Neptune | Sgr | 8.0 | 7:17am | 2:34pm | 9:51pm | Hidden |
Meteor showers
- Geminids — peaks 14 December, radiant in Gemini (up to 150/hr). The richest shower of the year; the radiant reaches a useful altitude after local midnight, so it rewards southern observers well. A bright 97% Moon interferes badly this year.
- Ursids — peaks 22 December, radiant in Ursa Minor (up to 10/hr). A circumpolar northern shower whose radiant never rises from Victoria. A 29% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — December 1989
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 19 August 2026.