The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 1996
Highlights this month
- 3SatThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (10:42pm)
- 10SatThe Moon passes Venus — 3° apart. (6:41am)
- 13TuePerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A thin 1% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 16FriThe Moon passes Mercury — 5° apart. (7:05pm)
- 20TueVenus at greatest morning elongation (46° from the Sun, mag −4.3) — best morning apparition. (12:01pm)
- 22ThuMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (1:54am)
- 31SatThe Moon passes Saturn — 4° apart. (6:04am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 | 7:21am | 5:32pm | 10h 11m | 7:03pm | 5:50am |
| Sat 10 | 7:11am | 5:39pm | 10h 28m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Tue 20 | 6:59am | 5:48pm | 10h 49m | 7:17pm | 5:30am |
| Sat 31 | 6:44am | 5:57pm | 11h 14m | 7:25pm | 5:16am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Last QuarterTue 6, 3:28pm
- New MoonWed 14, 5:34pm
- First QuarterThu 22, 1:40pm
- Full Moon SupermoonThu 29, 3:56am
Apogee 13 Aug (406,200 km) · Perigee 28 Aug (358,800 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.1 | 8:11am | 2:03pm | 7:56pm | Evening |
| Venus | Gem | −4.4 | 4:17am | 9:14am | 2:12pm | Morning |
| Mars | Gem | 1.5 | 5:01am | 9:44am | 2:27pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Sgr | −2.3 | 1:58pm | 9:20pm | 4:45am | Evening |
| Saturn | Psc | 0.5 | 9:10pm | 3:15am | 9:16am | Morning |
| Uranus | Cap | 5.7 | 3:50pm | 11:00pm | 6:14am | Evening |
| Neptune | Sgr | 7.8 | 3:22pm | 10:33pm | 5:48am | 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 thin 1% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — August 1996
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.
Looking for an earlier month? Browse all past monthly guides →
Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 7 October 2026.