The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2002
Highlights this month
- 5ThuJupiter is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (7:50am)
- 14SatGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 74% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 18WedSaturn at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Taurus (mag −0.6). (4:31am)
- 20FriThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (1:28am)
- 22SunSummer solstice.
- 22SunUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A bright 94% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 24TueThe Moon passes Jupiter — 4° apart. (12:51am)
- 26ThuMercury at greatest evening elongation (20° from the Sun, mag −0.5) — best evening apparition. (4:32pm)
- 30MonThe Moon passes Mars — 1° apart. (12:45pm)
- 30MonThe Moon passes Venus — 2° apart. (6:34pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 | 5:51am | 8:27pm | 14h 37m | 10:20pm | 3:59am |
| Tue 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 46m | 10:31pm | 3:55am |
| Fri 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:55am |
| Tue 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:42pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- New MoonWed 4, 6:38pm
- First QuarterThu 12, 2:50am
- Full MoonFri 20, 6:12am
- Last QuarterFri 27, 11:37am
Perigee 2 Dec (362,400 km) · Apogee 14 Dec (405,200 km) · Perigee 30 Dec (367,700 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sgr | −0.7 | 6:55am | 2:27pm | 9:59pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Lib | −4.7 | 3:37am | 10:18am | 4:59pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Lib | 1.6 | 3:26am | 10:12am | 4:59pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Cnc | −2.2 | 11:56pm | 5:09am | 10:19am | Morning |
| Saturn | Tau | −0.6 | 8:37pm | 1:30am | 6:18am | All night |
| Uranus | Cap | 5.9 | 10:51am | 5:37pm | 12:27am | Evening |
| Neptune | Cap | 7.9 | 9:30am | 4:31pm | 11:32pm | Evening |
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 74% 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 bright 94% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — December 2002
Evening sky Morning sky Up much of the night Lost in the Sun’s glare
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 15 July 2026.