The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2056
Highlights this month
- 2WedThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (7:13am)
- 4FriSaturn is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (7:04pm)
- 6SunThe Moon passes Mars — 3° apart. (5:11pm)
- 7MonMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (4:57pm)
- 13SunPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 20SunMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (7:38pm)
- 23WedThe Moon passes Jupiter — 0.4° apart. (11:44am)
- 29TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (2:12pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 7:21am | 5:32pm | 10h 12m | 7:03pm | 5:50am |
| Thu 10 | 7:11am | 5:40pm | 10h 29m | 7:10pm | 5:41am |
| Sun 20 | 6:58am | 5:48pm | 10h 50m | 7:17pm | 5:30am |
| Thu 31 | 6:43am | 5:58pm | 11h 15m | 7:26pm | 5:15am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Last QuarterThu 3, 9:54pm
- New MoonFri 11, 5:52pm
- First QuarterFri 18, 2:15pm
- Full MoonFri 25, 4:01pm
Apogee 4 Aug (404,700 km) · Perigee 17 Aug (369,300 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.6 | 7:59am | 1:56pm | 7:53pm | Evening |
| Venus | Leo | −3.7 | 8:10am | 1:50pm | 7:30pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Tau | 1.0 | 3:19am | 8:04am | 12:49pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Cap | −2.6 | 4:02pm | 11:10pm | 6:22am | Evening |
| Saturn | Psc | 0.3 | 10:25pm | 4:11am | 9:53am | Morning |
| Uranus | Vir | 5.6 | 9:24am | 3:44pm | 10:05pm | Evening |
| Neptune | Tau | 7.9 | 2:32am | 7:25am | 12:18pm | 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 thin 5% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — August 2056
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.