The Sky over the Mornington Peninsula — August 2181
Highlights this month
- 8WedMercury at greatest evening elongation (27° from the Sun, mag 0.3) — best evening apparition. (9:45am)
- 13MonPerseids meteor shower peaks (up to 100/hr). A thin 8% Moon leaves the sky dark.
- 13MonThe Moon passes Mars — 4° apart. (6:56pm)
- 14TueThe Moon passes Venus — 2° apart. (6:15pm)
- 21TueMercury is stationary — begins retrograde (westward) motion. (12:19pm)
- 26SunJupiter in superior conjunction with the Sun — lost in the glare. (10:40am)
Sun & twilight
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Astro. dark begins | ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 1 | 7:21am | 5:32pm | 10h 11m | 7:03pm | 5:50am |
| Fri 10 | 7:11am | 5:40pm | 10h 29m | 7:10pm | 5:42am |
| Mon 20 | 6:59am | 5:48pm | 10h 50m | 7:17pm | 5:30am |
| Fri 31 | 6:43am | 5:58pm | 11h 15m | 7:26pm | 5:16am |
Days lengthen by about 63 minutes over the month.
The Moon
- Last QuarterThu 2, 6:32pm
- New MoonFri 10, 10:17pm
- First QuarterSat 18, 9:02am
- Full MoonSat 25, 12:21am
Apogee 6 Aug (405,700 km) · Perigee 22 Aug (364,100 km)
The planets
Rise/set for mid-month at The Briars.
| Planet | In | Mag | Rise | Transit | Set | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | Leo | 0.6 | 8:01am | 1:58pm | 7:55pm | Evening |
| Venus | Vir | −4.1 | 8:57am | 3:09pm | 9:22pm | Evening |
| Mars | Vir | 1.8 | 8:32am | 2:25pm | 8:19pm | Evening |
| Jupiter | Leo | −1.6 | 7:33am | 12:57pm | 6:21pm | Hidden |
| Saturn | Gem | 0.1 | 5:50am | 10:44am | 3:37pm | Hidden |
| Uranus | Psc | 5.8 | 9:50pm | 3:40am | 9:26am | Morning |
| Neptune | Aqr | 7.8 | 7:20pm | 1:48am | 8:12am | Morning |
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 thin 8% Moon leaves the sky dark.
The solar system — August 2181
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 11 October 2026.