The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2106
Highlights this month
- 3TueThe Moon passes Venus — 3° apart. (9:50am)
- 4WedThe Moon passes Mars — 3° apart. (4:41pm)
- 10TueThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (11:34pm)
- 11WedMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (12:03pm)
- 13FriPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A bright 97% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 21SatThe Moon passes Jupiter — 1° apart. (6:05pm)
- 26ThuUranus is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (10:44am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 | 7:22am | 5:31pm | 10h 10m | 7:03pm | 5:51am |
| Tue 10 | 7:12am | 5:39pm | 10h 27m | 7:09pm | 5:43am |
| Fri 20 | 7:00am | 5:48pm | 10h 48m | 7:16pm | 5:31am |
| Tue 31 | 6:45am | 5:57pm | 11h 12m | 7:25pm | 5:17am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterSat 7, 2:35am
- Full MoonSun 15, 6:28am
- Last QuarterSun 22, 6:45pm
- New MoonSun 29, 9:47am
Apogee 11 Aug (405,800 km) · Perigee 27 Aug (363,000 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | −1.6 | 7:27am | 12:44pm | 6:01pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Vir | −4.5 | 8:44am | 3:01pm | 9:18pm | Evening |
| Mars | Vir | 1.3 | 9:32am | 3:59pm | 10:26pm | Evening |
| Jupiter | Ari | −2.2 | 12:24am | 5:38am | 10:52am | Morning |
| Saturn | Sgr | 0.2 | 1:29pm | 8:47pm | 4:10am | Evening |
| Uranus | Ari | 5.8 | 12:54am | 5:59am | 11:04am | Morning |
| Neptune | Vir | 8.0 | 8:48am | 2:45pm | 8:41pm | Evening |
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 97% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — August 2106
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 4 September 2026.