The Sky for the Month

The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1993

Computed for The Briars, Mt Martha. Times are local (Melbourne).

14TueGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A thin 1% Moon leaves the sky dark.
22WedSummer solstice.
22WedUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A bright 62% Moon interferes badly this year.
27MonMars in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (2:24pm)

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Day length	Astro. dark begins	ends
Tue 1	5:51am	8:27pm	14h 37m	10:20pm	3:58am
Thu 10	5:50am	8:35pm	14h 46m	10:31pm	3:55am
Sun 20	5:52am	8:42pm	14h 50m	10:39pm	3:56am
Thu 31	5:59am	8:46pm	14h 47m	10:42pm	4:03am

Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.

Perigee 10 Dec (365,300 km) · Apogee 22 Dec (404,900 km)

Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.

Planet	In	Mag	Rise	Transit	Set	Best
Mercury	Oph	−0.7	5:09am	12:28pm	7:47pm	Hidden
Venus	Oph	−3.8	5:22am	12:41pm	8:00pm	Hidden
Mars	Oph	1.3	6:03am	1:29pm	8:54pm	Hidden
Jupiter	Vir	−1.5	3:22am	10:05am	4:48pm	Morning
Saturn	Cap	0.7	10:49am	5:37pm	12:30am	Evening
Uranus	Sgr	5.9	7:56am	3:14pm	10:32pm	Hidden
Neptune	Sgr	8.0	7:56am	3:10pm	10:24pm	Hidden

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 thin 1% Moon leaves the sky dark.
Ursids — peaks 22 December, radiant in Ursa Minor (up to 10/hr). A circumpolar northern shower whose radiant never rises from Victoria. A bright 62% Moon interferes badly this year.

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.

Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 18 August 2026.