The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — December 2169
Highlights this month
- 3SunMercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (4:01am)
- 12TueMercury is stationary — resumes direct (eastward) motion. (6:07pm)
- 14ThuMars and Jupiter in conjunction — 1° apart. (5:17am)
- 14ThuGeminids meteor shower peaks (up to 150/hr). A thin 19% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 21ThuMercury at greatest morning elongation (22° from the Sun, mag −0.4) — best morning apparition. (1:53pm)
- 22FriSummer solstice.
- 22FriUrsids meteor shower peaks (up to 10/hr). A thin 14% Moon leaves the sky dark.
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 | 5:50am | 8:27pm | 14h 37m | 10:20pm | 3:58am |
| Sun 10 | 5:50am | 8:35pm | 14h 46m | 10:31pm | 3:54am |
| Wed 20 | 5:52am | 8:42pm | 14h 50m | 10:39pm | 3:55am |
| Sun 31 | 5:59am | 8:46pm | 14h 47m | 10:41pm | 4:03am |
Days lengthen by about 10 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonMon 4, 9:26pm
- Last QuarterMon 11, 6:25pm
- New MoonMon 18, 9:49pm
- First QuarterTue 26, 11:27pm
Perigee 9 Dec (368,900 km) · Apogee 25 Dec (405,000 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Sco | −0.1 | 4:49am | 11:52am | 6:54pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Sgr | −3.8 | 6:13am | 1:39pm | 9:04pm | Hidden |
| Mars | Leo | 0.6 | 1:25am | 7:06am | 12:47pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Leo | −1.9 | 1:19am | 7:03am | 12:47pm | Morning |
| Saturn | Cap | 0.7 | 10:22am | 5:15pm | 12:13am | Evening |
| Uranus | Cap | 5.9 | 10:41am | 5:29pm | 12:21am | Evening |
| Neptune | Cap | 7.9 | 10:02am | 4:57pm | 11:52pm | Evening |
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 19% 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 thin 14% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — December 2169
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 7 October 2026.