The Sky for the Month

The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2019

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

14SatGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 95% Moon interferes badly this year.
22SunSummer solstice.
22SunUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 18% Moon leaves the sky dark.
23MonThe Moon passes Mars — 3° apart. (2:59pm)
28SatJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (5:36am)

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

Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.

Apogee 5 Dec (404,800 km) · Perigee 19 Dec (369,900 km)

Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.

Planet	In	Mag	Rise	Transit	Set	Best
Mercury	Oph	−0.6	4:58am	12:13pm	7:28pm	Hidden
Venus	Sgr	−3.7	8:07am	3:29pm	10:51pm	Hidden
Mars	Lib	1.7	3:49am	10:45am	5:42pm	Hidden
Jupiter	Sgr	−1.7	6:36am	1:58pm	9:20pm	Hidden
Saturn	Sgr	0.5	7:54am	3:10pm	10:26pm	Hidden
Uranus	Ari	5.7	4:25pm	9:48pm	3:16am	Evening
Neptune	Aqr	7.9	12:33pm	6:55pm	1:22am	Evening

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 95% 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 18% 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 15 July 2026.