The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — October 2171
Highlights this month
- 1TueThe Moon passes Mercury — 4° apart. (7:43pm)
- 1TueThe Moon passes Venus — 1° apart. (7:45pm)
- 8TueMercury at greatest evening elongation (26° from the Sun, mag 0.0) — best evening apparition. (7:56pm)
- 11FriThe Moon passes Saturn — 3° apart. (5:04am)
- 21MonMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (4:49am)
- 21MonOrionids meteor shower peaks (up to 20/hr). A 59% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 23WedJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (9:36am)
- 31ThuThe Moon passes Venus — 1° apart. (8:25pm)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 | 5:56am | 6:24pm | 12h 28m | 7:54pm | 4:27am |
| Thu 10 | 6:42am | 7:32pm | 12h 50m | 9:04pm | 5:11am |
| Sun 20 | 6:28am | 7:42pm | 13h 14m | 9:16pm | 4:54am |
| Thu 31 | 6:14am | 7:54pm | 13h 40m | 9:32pm | 4:36am |
Days lengthen by about 72 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- First QuarterSun 6, 6:15pm
- Full MoonMon 14, 9:10am
- Last QuarterTue 22, 2:04pm
- New MoonTue 29, 12:29pm
Perigee 1 Oct (360,900 km) · Apogee 17 Oct (406,000 km) · Perigee 30 Oct (357,400 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Lib | 0.1 | 7:27am | 2:35pm | 9:43pm | Evening |
| Venus | Lib | −3.7 | 7:50am | 2:52pm | 9:54pm | Evening |
| Mars | Leo | 1.6 | 4:40am | 10:04am | 3:27pm | Morning |
| Jupiter | Vir | −1.5 | 6:57am | 1:30pm | 8:03pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Aqr | 0.6 | 4:15pm | 10:44pm | 5:18am | Evening |
| Uranus | Aqr | 5.8 | 3:20pm | 9:59pm | 4:43am | Evening |
| Neptune | Cap | 7.8 | 2:23pm | 9:14pm | 4:09am | Evening |
Meteor showers
- Orionids — peaks 21 October, radiant in Orion (up to 20/hr). Also from Halley's Comet; Orion rides high after midnight from the south, giving a fair show. A 59% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — October 2171
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 7 October 2026.