The night sky over Sydney at the millennium midnight
At midnight on 1 January 2000, Sydney welcomed the year 2000 with fireworks over the harbour. Sydney was one of the first big cities to reach the year 2000, so television stations around the world showed its celebration.
Crowds filled the foreshores, parks and boats around Sydney Harbour from the afternoon of New Year's Eve.
The sky above Sydney, Australia on January 1, 2000
The sky was fully dark. There was a waning crescent Moon, 31% lit, but it was below the horizon. Jupiter and Saturn were above the horizon and could be seen without a telescope.
- Local time
- 12:00 AM
- Time in UTC
- December 31, 1999 at 1:00 PM UTC
- Sun
- Night
- Sun position
- 31° below the horizon
- Moon phase
- waning crescent Moon
- Moon lit
- 31%
- Moon position
- 25° below the horizon
| Planet | Visible | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | No | south | -31° |
| Venus | No | south-east | -32° |
| Mars | No | south-west | -12° |
| Jupiter | Yes | north-west | 18° |
| Saturn | Yes | north-west | 26° |
| Uranus | No | south-west | -19° |
| Neptune | No | south-west | -24° |
| Star | Constellation | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sirius | Canis Major | north-east | 68° |
| Canopus | Carina | south | 70° |
| Rigil Kentaurus | Centaurus | south | 12° |
| Rigel | Orion | north | 64° |
| Procyon | Canis Minor | north-east | 42° |
| Achernar | Eridanus | south-west | 43° |
| Betelgeuse | Orion | north | 49° |
| Hadar | Centaurus | south-east | 14° |
| Acrux | Crux | south-east | 25° |
| Aldebaran | Taurus | north | 37° |
51 constellations are above the horizon. Highest in the sky: Columba, Caelum, Lepus, Canis Major, Puppis, Pictor, Dorado, Eridanus, Horologium, Reticulum, Fornax, and Monoceros.
What happened that night
At midnight, fireworks burst from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and from barges across the harbour.
The word 'Eternity' lit up on the side of the bridge. It honoured Arthur Stace, a Sydney man who wrote the word in chalk on the city's footpaths for decades.
Why people remember it
Many people celebrated the year 2000 as the start of a new millennium, and shared that midnight with family and friends.
A star map of this midnight makes a gift for a couple who met or married around the year 2000, or for anyone born on New Year's Day 2000.
Questions about this night
It shows 00:00 Australian Eastern Daylight Time on 1 January 2000, at the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Yes. Open the map in the editor and search for your city. The map uses the local time of the place you choose, so midnight is your own midnight.
Arthur Stace chalked the word on Sydney footpaths for about 35 years. The city lit it on the bridge at the millennium in his honour.