The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2081
Highlights this month
- 13WedPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A bright 67% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 13WedMars in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (12:10pm)
- 16SatSaturn at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Capricornus (mag 0.2). (2:14pm)
- 19TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 0.6° apart. (2:31pm)
- 22FriThe Moon passes Jupiter — 2° apart. (7:22am)
- 31SunMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.2) — best evening apparition. (7:50am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 | 7:21am | 5:32pm | 10h 12m | 7:03pm | 5:50am |
| Sun 10 | 7:11am | 5:40pm | 10h 29m | 7:10pm | 5:41am |
| Wed 20 | 6:59am | 5:48pm | 10h 50m | 7:17pm | 5:30am |
| Sun 31 | 6:43am | 5:58pm | 11h 15m | 7:26pm | 5:15am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- New MoonTue 5, 11:30am
- First QuarterTue 12, 2:28am
- Full MoonTue 19, 9:16pm
- Last QuarterThu 28, 12:15am
Perigee 6 Aug (358,700 km) · Apogee 21 Aug (406,200 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | −0.1 | 8:06am | 1:51pm | 7:37pm | Evening |
| Venus | Gem | −3.7 | 5:24am | 10:16am | 3:08pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Leo | 1.7 | 7:10am | 12:24pm | 5:37pm | Hidden |
| Jupiter | Psc | −2.6 | 8:20pm | 2:35am | 8:45am | Morning |
| Saturn | Cap | 0.2 | 5:39pm | 12:33am | 7:23am | All night |
| Uranus | Cap | 5.7 | 4:15pm | 11:20pm | 6:30am | Evening |
| Neptune | Cnc | 7.9 | 6:15am | 11:16am | 4:17pm | Hidden |
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 67% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — August 2081
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 25 August 2026.