The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2066
Highlights this month
- 13MonJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (11:20pm)
- 14TueGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A thin 11% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 21TueMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (9:30pm)
- 22WedSummer solstice.
- 22WedUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A 35% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 22WedSaturn is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (2:34pm)
- 23ThuVenus at greatest morning elongation (47° from the Sun, mag −4.4) — best morning apparition. (4:20am)
- 24FriNeptune at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Gemini (mag 7.8). (8:43pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 1 | 5:50am | 8:27pm | 14h 37m | 10:20pm | 3:58am |
| Fri 10 | 5:50am | 8:36pm | 14h 46m | 10:31pm | 3:55am |
| Mon 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:56am |
| Fri 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:42pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 10 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonThu 2, 6:19am
- Last QuarterFri 10, 11:45am
- New MoonFri 17, 11:21am
- First QuarterFri 24, 3:01am
Apogee 5 Dec (405,900 km) · Perigee 18 Dec (357,800 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Oph | −1.0 | 5:33am | 12:59pm | 8:26pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Vir | −4.5 | 3:27am | 10:05am | 4:44pm | Morning |
| Mars | Lib | 1.7 | 3:42am | 10:36am | 5:31pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Oph | −1.6 | 5:50am | 1:09pm | 8:30pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Leo | 0.6 | 1:03am | 6:37am | 12:10pm | Morning |
| Uranus | Sco | 5.7 | 4:51am | 12:05pm | 7:19pm | Hidden |
| Neptune | Gem | 7.8 | 9:08pm | 1:59am | 6:46am | All night |
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 11% 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 35% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — December 2066
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 17 August 2026.