Wednesday 12th August offers the chance to combine two major events: the spectacular partial solar eclipse in the evening and the start of the Perseid meteor shower peak later that night. Weather permitting, we hope to run a combined observing session from 18:00hrs to 23:00hrs from the Danby Lodge location.  

Maximum solar eclipse with Venus showing in darkened twilight shortly after 19:00hrs.
(Click for full image)

WDAS members will be at the DSS facility at Danby Lodge throughout the evening. A number of WDAS members will hopefully witness the eclipse as ‘total’ from various locations along the path of totality, so fewer WDAS volunteers than usual will be available locally.

We would therefore welcome help from WDAS members and others who are able and comfortable to assist on the day, particularly with transport. WDAS may also be involved in an event in Whitby itself, although this has not yet been confirmed. For now, we are simply trying to gauge how many people may be available.

The DSS event at Danby Lodge will begin shortly before 18:00hrs, although WDAS members will be on site earlier. We plan to show a live feed of the total eclipse in the presentation room, whether conditions allow observations of the partial eclipse from Danby, or not. Weather permitting, a battery of correctly filtered telescopes will also be set up close to the facility.

Composite Perseid meteor shower image from Aug 12th 2024. 
Image credit - Richard Randle. (Click for full image)

Following the conclusion of the partial eclipse, it is the intention to continue observations of the summer night sky later into the evening in an endeavour to spot a few Perseid meteors in the run up to the shower peak overnight. We are planning to be on site until around 11pm or thereabouts - dependent on weather conditions.  

If you can help, please contact Mark at spanton9363atgmail.com