Clear Skies, Tooting Common

A stargazing meet this bank holiday weekend on Tooting Common near Tooting Bec; skies forecast clear the whole night (meeting Sunday, but Friday/Saturday pretty clear too).

The sun sets at 9pm, so its a late start
and probably at least 9:45 before we can see even the brightest planets/stars.

We can meet in the usual pub for this venue - the Rose and Crown, for a little while before heading to the common, or coordinate somewhere if you're happy to/there's only one or two of you (easier if we've met before at other events).

Am expecting a pretty warm day but remember it will get cool especially with clear skies - bring/add another layer than you thought you needed, if you're new to this.

We will likely congregate in the pub for a half hour or so before heading out to directly diagonally opposite the pub, but might also consider the cricket court next to the car park on Dr. Johnson Avenue - approx. 10-15 minute walk, if we're all able to. Happy to help you find us - take note of my phone no. (in event location details/"how to find us" short text) or comment here and I will try to notice Meetup comments/messages but SMS text messages might be the best way to reach the host (John), details alongside the location info.

Targets

The Moon is up from 9:30 (visible some time after once its above the trees/houses), theres a low ISS (space station) pass at 9:39, Venus and Jupiter are the brightest planets naked-eye visible at the moment - in good skies a medium sized telescope like the organiser's will show Jupiter's two redder cloud belts. Saturn is hiding for a few months, behind the sun. Besides this lots of other options so am sure we can find several targets to examine and explore.

I (John) will bring my little (but nicely portable) 4" telescope. If you have equipment suitable that you can bring, please do - binoculars count too (I might bring a pair of those too). Don't worry if you don't have anything, we'll share views with you and I can answer many questions beginners often have. Regular torches can ruin our night vision - if you have red-light versions or can filter them (or turn them off as you get nearer), that will make them ok to use while in the group, but you don't need one.

Please update your rsvp and/or comment here or message me if you change your mind about coming, I might message you to check if it looks like only one or two are coming so please be able to check messages closer to the time; it's polite and avoids delaying the rest of us enjoying the stars/planets or wasting our time. If there's no other RSVPs I'll still probably be stargazing a bit from home, so its important to use meetup and let me know or RSVP and allow a bit of time for replies if you want to check on us/where we are. My phone no. (use text messages if you can't get me directly) is listed in the location details how to find us for the event

Need help transporting anything? I can offer to help you get any equipment onto the common from the roads/parking spaces nearby, perhaps others there too, if you're ok with that.