The Sky for the Month

The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 1995

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

14ThuGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 60% Moon interferes badly this year.
19TueJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (8:37am)
22FriSummer solstice.
22FriUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 0% Moon leaves the sky dark.
27WedThe Moon passes Saturn — 5° apart. (11:18pm)

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Day length	Astro. dark begins	ends
Thu 1	5:51am	8:27pm	14h 36m	10:19pm	3:59am
Sat 10	5:50am	8:35pm	14h 45m	10:30pm	3:55am
Tue 20	5:52am	8:42pm	14h 50m	10:39pm	3:55am
Sat 31	5:59am	8:46pm	14h 48m	10:42pm	4:03am

Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.

Apogee 9 Dec (406,100 km) · Perigee 22 Dec (356,900 km)

Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.

Planet	In	Mag	Rise	Transit	Set	Best
Mercury	Sgr	−0.8	6:34am	2:07pm	9:40pm	Hidden
Venus	Sgr	−3.7	7:58am	3:22pm	10:45pm	Hidden
Mars	Sgr	1.3	7:10am	2:35pm	10:01pm	Hidden
Jupiter	Oph	−1.7	6:07am	1:28pm	8:49pm	Hidden
Saturn	Aqr	1.0	12:44pm	7:07pm	1:33am	Evening
Uranus	Sgr	5.9	8:36am	3:49pm	11:02pm	Evening
Neptune	Sgr	8.0	8:18am	3:30pm	10:42pm	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 bright 60% 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 thin 0% Moon leaves the sky dark.

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 17 August 2026.