The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2172
Highlights this month
- 7FriMercury in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (8:56am)
- 8SatThe Moon passes Saturn — 0.5° apart. (12:40am)
- 9SunMars and Jupiter in conjunction — 2° apart. (12:00am)
- 13ThuPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A 34% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
- 15SatNeptune at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Capricornus (mag 7.8). (10:32pm)
- 25TueThe Moon passes Jupiter — 2° apart. (6:52pm)
- 30SunUranus at opposition — closest and brightest of the year, up all night in Aquarius (mag 5.8). (4:04am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 1 | 7:21am | 5:32pm | 10h 12m | 7:03pm | 5:50am |
| Mon 10 | 7:11am | 5:40pm | 10h 29m | 7:10pm | 5:42am |
| Thu 20 | 6:59am | 5:49pm | 10h 50m | 7:17pm | 5:30am |
| Mon 31 | 6:43am | 5:58pm | 11h 15m | 7:26pm | 5:15am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Full MoonTue 4, 4:29pm
- Last QuarterTue 11, 11:14pm
- New MoonThu 20, 1:34am
- First QuarterThu 27, 8:00am
Perigee 2 Aug (361,700 km) · Apogee 14 Aug (405,300 km) · Perigee 30 Aug (367,100 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | −1.2 | 7:36am | 1:00pm | 6:23pm | Hidden |
| Venus | Gem | −3.9 | 4:43am | 9:35am | 2:27pm | Morning |
| Mars | Lib | 0.5 | 10:29am | 5:29pm | 12:30am | Evening |
| Jupiter | Lib | −1.7 | 10:31am | 5:20pm | 12:12am | Evening |
| Saturn | Psc | 0.7 | 8:37pm | 2:49am | 8:58am | Morning |
| Uranus | Aqr | 5.8 | 6:48pm | 1:24am | 7:56am | Morning |
| Neptune | Cap | 7.8 | 5:37pm | 12:29am | 7:16am | All night |
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 34% Moon washes out fainter meteors for part of the night.
The solar system — August 2172
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.