There will be a partial solar eclipse in the early evening of the Wednesday 12th August. The moon will significantly cover the sun, up to 93% of its area as seen from our location, the greatest since 1999. The eclipse starts at around 18:15 BST, maxes around 19:15 and finishes just after 20:00.

The u3a Astronomy group will be setting up specially adapted telescopes and other equipment at the Sports Pavilion car park of Haberdashers Monmouth School and u3a members are invited to come and watch from there. Unfortunately we cannot allow non-u3a members to attend for insurance reasons. To access the car park there’s a right turn immediately after the main span of Wye Bridge, as seen from a vehicle moving towards Wyesham/Lidl. The What3Words location is reflector.crinkled.roadmap . The location has been chosen to provide an open view of the NW sky as the sun will be moving lower in the evening.

If you want to watch the whole event we advise you to turn up any time from 17:30. You can bring your own eclipse watching equipment if you want but its safety and care will be your responsibility. Believe it or not, a useful bit of kit is a kitchen colander (will explain on the day). For the avoidance of doubt, safety instructions will be provided on the day.

You may want to bring a picnic chair if you want to stay for the whole eclipse. We have requested access to the toilets in the Pavilion building.

One caveat is, inevitably, the weather. Currently it’s looking good, but on the day, there will be three possibilities:

1. Clear or hazy sky. We see the eclipse.
2. Thin or intermittent cloud. The eclipse will be glimpsed and this has been the case for the last few eclipses.
3. Continuous cloud and/or rain. The sky will darken but the eclipse cannot be seen, so stay home.

Let’s hope for the first two situations and you enjoy the event.

Keith Moseley

Dr Keith Moseley FRAS, C Phys, M Inst P