The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2154
Highlights this month
- 14SatGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A bright 73% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 15SunMercury at greatest evening elongation (21° from the Sun, mag −0.5) — best evening apparition. (7:49am)
- 17TueUranus in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (8:46am)
- 19ThuSaturn is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (1:09pm)
- 22SunSummer solstice.
- 22SunUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A bright 95% Moon interferes badly this year.
- 23MonMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (7:52am)
- 26ThuThe Moon passes Saturn — 2° apart. (4:43am)
- 28SatThe Moon passes Mars — 1° apart. (1:37am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 | 5:50am | 8:27pm | 14h 37m | 10:19pm | 3:58am |
| Tue 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 45m | 10:30pm | 3:54am |
| Fri 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:55am |
| Tue 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:41pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 11 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- New MoonThu 5, 4:09pm
- First QuarterThu 12, 8:12am
- Full MoonFri 20, 9:02am
- Last QuarterSat 28, 9:55am
Perigee 6 Dec (357,100 km) · Apogee 20 Dec (406,300 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sgr | −0.5 | 7:16am | 2:45pm | 10:13pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Vir | −4.3 | 3:28am | 10:08am | 4:48pm | Morning |
| Mars | Vir | 0.9 | 1:43am | 7:34am | 1:24pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Tau | −2.6 | 6:27pm | 11:27pm | 4:31am | Evening |
| Saturn | Leo | 0.5 | 12:55am | 6:25am | 11:54am | Morning |
| Uranus | Oph | 5.8 | 6:00am | 1:22pm | 8:44pm | Hidden |
| Neptune | Sgr | 8.0 | 7:29am | 2:45pm | 10:01pm | Hidden |
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 bright 73% 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 bright 95% Moon interferes badly this year.
The solar system — December 2154
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.
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Generated automatically from the MPAS sky engine on 26 September 2026.