Solar Eclipse (Partial)
Details
There is a partial (but quite deep) solar eclipse on August 12 - to see a total eclipse you'd need to be in Spain or maybe Canada. Join us to see it together on Tooting Common (near Dr. Johnson Avenue car park and bus stop).
It starts 6.17pm, maximum coverage at 7.13pm, and the moon leaves the sun at 8.06pm. As a partial eclipse (total in Spain and some other places) 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 filtered equipment to see it close-up.
I'll bring my telescope with a Baader solar filter and I'll have plenty of card solar eclipse sunglasses for us all (though if you have other safe equipment you're welcome to bring it, especially if you have a specialised highly-filtered solar-scope showing prominences and the hydrogen-alpha wavelengths view).
Safety Notice
DO NOT STARE AT THE SUN OR USE ANY OPTICAL EQUIPMENT WITHOUT PROPER GUIDANCE AND SAFETY.
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 while pointed towards the sun or other risks.
We have some safely filtered for sun-gazing sunglasses provided at low cost courteously by Astronomers Across Borders via GoStargazing to distribute to anyone who doesn't have one already (if you wish to contribute to our monthly Meetup running costs, please get in touch on the day or by online message). I expect some passers by on the path may be interested too.
We can meet next to the car park, behind the wooden-build toilets block (may not be open) just off Tooting Bec Road, and next to the footpath (the footpath goes between the tennis courts and pond, and crosses Bedford Hill at a lights-controlled zebra crossing the other side).
Location: Google Maps link
Further timing details and visualisation of the eclipse at this Time and Date website page.
More about Tooting Common at this Wandsworth council page.
Check out the photos and comments from our 2025 eclipse meet (a Saturday morning), which had ~30 people stopping by in total.