The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 1990
Highlights this month
- 5SunThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (4:30am)
- 12SunMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (6:27am)
- 13MonPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A 54% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 22WedThe Moon passes Mercury — 0.1° apart. (9:27pm)
- 25SatMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (9:34am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 1 | 7:22am | 5:31pm | 10h 10m | 7:02pm | 5:50am |
| Fri 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 27m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Mon 20 | 7:00am | 5:47pm | 10h 48m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Fri 31 | 6:44am | 5:57pm | 11h 13m | 7:25pm | 5:17am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonTue 7, 12:22am
- Last QuarterTue 14, 1:58am
- New MoonMon 20, 10:39pm
- First QuarterTue 28, 5:34pm
Perigee 15 Aug (369,300 km) · Apogee 28 Aug (404,700 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.4 | 8:07am | 2:03pm | 7:59pm | Evening |
| Venus | Cnc | −3.7 | 6:06am | 11:02am | 3:58pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Ari | −0.2 | 12:54am | 6:04am | 11:14am | Morning |
| Jupiter | Cnc | −1.6 | 5:59am | 10:53am | 3:47pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Sgr | 0.1 | 2:55pm | 10:11pm | 5:31am | Evening |
| Uranus | Sgr | 5.7 | 1:49pm | 9:11pm | 4:38am | Evening |
| Neptune | Sgr | 7.8 | 2:22pm | 9:38pm | 4:58am | 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 54% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — August 1990
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.