The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2015
Highlights this month
- 4FriThe Moon passes Jupiter — 2° apart. (4:19pm)
- 6SunThe Moon passes Mars — 0.1° apart. (1:39pm)
- 14MonGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A thin 9% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 22TueSummer solstice.
- 22TueUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A bright 87% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 26SatUranus is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (8:56pm)
- 29TueMercury at greatest evening elongation (20° from the Sun, mag −0.6) — best evening apparition. (2:06pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 5:51am | 8:27pm | 14h 36m | 10:19pm | 3:59am |
| Thu 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 45m | 10:30pm | 3:55am |
| Sun 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:55am |
| Thu 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 48m | 10:42pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Last QuarterThu 3, 6:42pm
- New MoonFri 11, 9:34pm
- First QuarterSat 19, 2:16am
- Full MoonFri 25, 10:10pm
Apogee 6 Dec (405,100 km) · Perigee 21 Dec (368,300 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sgr | −0.7 | 6:47am | 2:20pm | 9:53pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Lib | −4.0 | 3:41am | 10:26am | 5:12pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Vir | 1.4 | 2:37am | 8:59am | 3:20pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Leo | −1.8 | 1:32am | 7:21am | 1:10pm | Morning |
| Saturn | Oph | 0.4 | 5:08am | 12:17pm | 7:27pm | Hidden |
| Uranus | Psc | 5.8 | 3:04pm | 8:47pm | 2:34am | Evening |
| Neptune | Aqr | 7.9 | 11:50am | 6:22pm | 12:59am | 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 thin 9% 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 87% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — December 2015
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.
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 15 July 2026.