The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2014
Highlights this month
- 3SunThe Moon passes Mars — 2° apart. (9:10pm)
- 4MonThe Moon passes Saturn — 0.1° apart. (8:30pm)
- 9SatMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (2:09am)
- 13WedPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A bright 91% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 26TueMars and Saturn in conjunction — 3° apart. (3:58am)
- 30SatNeptune at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Aquarius (mag 7.8). (12:29am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 | 7:21am | 5:31pm | 10h 10m | 7:02pm | 5:50am |
| Sun 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 27m | 7:09pm | 5:42am |
| Wed 20 | 6:59am | 5:48pm | 10h 48m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Sun 31 | 6:44am | 5:57pm | 11h 13m | 7:25pm | 5:16am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterMon 4, 10:50am
- Full Moon SupermoonMon 11, 4:14am
- Last QuarterSun 17, 10:28pm
- New MoonTue 26, 12:12am
Perigee 11 Aug (356,700 km) · Apogee 24 Aug (406,200 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | −1.3 | 7:33am | 12:53pm | 6:14pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Cnc | −3.7 | 6:13am | 11:10am | 4:07pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Lib | 0.5 | 10:23am | 5:19pm | 12:17am | Evening |
| Jupiter | Cnc | −1.6 | 6:23am | 11:23am | 4:22pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Lib | 0.5 | 10:56am | 5:47pm | 12:41am | Evening |
| Uranus | Psc | 5.8 | 10:01pm | 3:49am | 9:32am | Morning |
| Neptune | Aqr | 7.8 | 6:45pm | 1:22am | 7:56am | Morning |
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 bright 91% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — August 2014
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 15 July 2026.