Solar Eclipse (Partial) - plus (optional) Perseids after dark: FULL UP

There is a partial (but quite deep) solar eclipse on August 12 — for a total eclipse you'd need to be in Spain, Iceland, Greenland. We'll see it together on Tooting Common (near Dr. Johnson Avenue car park and bus stop). It's the best one since 1999! Picnic too?

Eclipse Start: 6:17pm (moon & sun edges first intersect)
Maximum coverage (91%): 7:13pm (slightly darker sky, cooler)
Eclipse End: 8:06pm (moon leaves sun, near horizon; hard to track but should still be visible)
(sunset: 8:28; other planet/meteor/star-gazing from near 9pm or later, see below)

As a partial eclipse it will only get a little darker and cooler, but if weather allows, we will be able to see the moon as it crosses the sun up to 91.43% covered, and use suitably filter-protected equipment to see it safely close-up and any current sunspots during the event.

I'll bring my telescope with a Baader solar filter as will a few others for more detailed views. We have just a few FREE (but taking a returnable £10 CASH deposit) card solar eclipse glasses for you, maximum 1 per person. If you have any already, or other viewing tools — even a card pinhole viewer (one how-to article/another) or colander you're ready to share views with, please bring them (and explain safe usage to anyone you allow to use it)! Especially if you have a specialised highly-filtered solar-scope showing prominences and the hydrogen-alpha wavelengths view (am offering travel cost and carrying help for those). I'll also provide some card to make pinhole projector viewers - a fun activity for kids too, if done under supervision (pins=sharp!).

⚫ Important Safety Notice:
DO NOT STARE AT THE SUN OR USE ANY OPTICAL EQUIPMENT WITHOUT PROPER GUIDANCE AND SAFETY.
Non-eclipse sunglasses won't protect your eyes/retinas from UV/heat when looking directly at the sun, even through any cloud (& your retinas don't have pain sensors so no danger warning).
Please no open flames, given the extremely hot and dry heatwaves
Families welcome, but please keep watch on children in your care for their safety - any equipment brought must be suitably protected and watched at all times so no safety filters are removed/knocked off while pointed towards the sun or other risks. If it's windy, protections must be secure against that too.

Please also beware physical hazards like tripod legs and adjustment knobs or screws sticking out/metal corners, batteries, or just someone who was so busy looking up or into an eyepiece, that they didn't see you.
If eating/drinking, try to avoid sticky fingers on others' equipment and a risky level of impairment; consider allergens (large groups usually include a few sensitive people). Tooting Common allows alcohol but authorities may confiscate or order you not to drink if any issues.

I expect some passers-by may be interested to join us, we're happy to welcome them in as long as they know the safety guidance and behave responsibly. Everyone must respect others.

🏥Nearest hospital: St. George's, Tooting.

⚫After the Eclipse:
There's more to stargaze if you can wait a while after sunset (8:28, but dark enough ~ 9:15) — chat/eat/.. meanwhile? — but please help tidy any rubbish when you leave.
Leaving early? Others might appreciate using spare eclipse glasses if you had but don't need them anymore. Want a group to walk back to a station/stop? Ask the organiser(s) for help.
Staying? Bring warmer clothing if so; first-time star-party attenders almost always regret not doing so.

Perseids (from ~ 9:15pm or later):
The same day is also the Perseid meteor shower peak (runs ~ 17 July to the end of August), and the forecast is good. If enough people want to stay past the eclipse and sunset (8:28) until it's dark enough to spot shooting stars, let's continue the meet for that. Why not chat/eat/add warmer clothes/pop out for food or drinks/share eclipse or shooting star experiences while waiting?
Solar eclipses are always (definitionally) on a new moon, which makes for darker skies and better spotting too!

No equipment needed (it can actually stop you seeing them), but something to sit / lie back on that you can look upwards from for a long time without hurting your neck can be helpful (blanket? recliner?).

Planets:
Venus and Mercury will be out earlier on (8:40–9:10pm at best). Jupiter's very close to the sun (not safe for scopes, and makes it hard to spot), then sets. Saturn rises later but it might only be visible near 11pm.

Several people (3–5 or more?) will bring their telescopes for night-time planet/star-gazing or remove the solar filters for later.

⚫ Meetpoint/Travel Advice:
We meet in the park, on the other side of Dr. Johnson Avenue to the toilet block (🚾 open til dusk) and car park on that road; nearer the top end of the car park, away from the main road so the trees/buildings opposite don't obscure the view as the sun sets. There's a park bench facing south-west to grab if we can.
Dr. Johnson Avenue is a turning off Tooting Bec Road.

🚌Busses 249, 319 run all along Tooting Bec Rd, the G1 along part; Nearest stop: Tooting Bec Athletics Track (both directions).
🚇Underground: Tooting Bec nearest (Northern line) but has many steps, then 249/319/walk towards Streatham.
Or: Victoria line tube to Brixton (step-free), any bus except 59 from stop P (left out tube, near the large road junction, same side of street as tube exit) to Streatham St. Leonard's, then change to a 249 as if coming from Streatham station (below).
🚆Mainline train: Balham (lifts, step-free) † or Streatham (lifts, less reliable/frequent) ‡
🚗🅿️67-space Car park closes 10pm; free for max. 2 hours, or use side-roads off Tooting Bec Rd or (further) far end of Dr. Johnson Ave (TfL single red line, limited stopping times).

† (from Balham station, can tube 1 stop to Tooting Bec and a bus as above; or, I suggest cross the road and walk down Balham High Rd a minute, past Aldi, get a 249 bus from stop C outside McDonald's towards Anerley the rest of the way, not much slower, better access).
‡ (from Streatham, suggest walk towards bus station/big Tesco Extra down the hill 2 minutes, a 249 bus from stop SH outside Tesco towards Clapham Common or catch it at St. Leonard's church stops)

Location: Google Maps link / What 3 Words: cotton again goals (approximately)
We'll try to grab the bench under the tree, but look for scopes & tripods near there.
More general travel details for the whole common: FoTC page

⚫ Food/drink:
Old water fountain (art deco style, stone) by the main road.
Convenience store/Off-Licence 10 minutes walk, by the Rose and Crown pub on Tooting Bec Rd at corner of the Common, Avoca Rd/opposite Elmbourne Rd; or go 5–10 minutes further walk (or bus) towards Tooting Bec station for a Sainsburys Local (til 11pm) or a fish & chips takeaway/other options.

⚫ Eclipse "Glasses":
The safely-filtered for sun-gazing glasses (card frame+filter film "lens") we're giving out free are provided to us at low cost courteously by Astronomers Across Borders via GoStargazing & FLO to distribute to anyone who doesn't have one already. We will have to prioritise these to RSVPs/who's actually there if turnout is as anywhere near as high as the RSVP count; arrive early! And please share if you can. If leaving early, consider offering to someone else/back to the organisers.

Donations to the event's costs and organisation or our monthly Meetup running costs happily accepted (card/cash/paypal), or ask on the day or online before/after. We bought the glasses, designed and printed a bunch of signs, spent a day visiting shops & libraries in the local area, scoped out & measured places and their horizons for the best meetpoint, talked to national media and local groups - astronomy/otherwise (e.g. FoTC, BSIA), made things, bought a new stool and scope accessories for sungazing efficiency, recruited helpers, spent way too long researching online, setup new accounts & services, answered questions from you all before and during, and much more.

⚫ Other Info & Links:
We expect everyone to respect other people there no matter their gender, race, age, religion, sexuality, disabilities, clothing choices etc. i.e. generally "Don't be a dick".
Photos may be taken and posted here or shared later publicly; it's a public venue; but do get informed consent if you focus on a particular group/individual and don't harass/be creepy.

Further timing details and visualisation of the eclipse at this Time and Date website page.

More about Tooting Common at this Wandsworth council page, also see the Friends of Tooting Common website.

Check out the photos and comments from our 2025 eclipse meet (a Saturday morning), which had ~30 people stopping by in total. Including random curious members of the public who just happened to be out walking, saw us and came over.