Wednesday brings a rare skywatching tripleheader, with six planets visible before sunrise, a partial solar eclipse across parts of the United States and the Perseid meteor shower peaking overnight. With a new moon darkening the sky, clear-weather locations could see around 100 meteors or more an hour.
Wednesday is shaping up as one of the best days of the year to look up at the sky, with a planetary parade, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and, in some places, a solar eclipse all packed into one unusually busy day in the sky.
The big question, as always, is whether the weather will cooperate. Clear skies will matter most once darkness falls and the meteors start flying.
Here is everything you need to know:
The celestial tripleheader actually begins before breakfast. Six planets — Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune — will be above the horizon before sunrise Wednesday, according to AccuWeather.
Don't expect all six to jump out at you. Mars and Saturn should be the easiest to spot with the naked eye, shining high in the southern sky. Jupiter and Mercury will be low in the east as morning twilight begins, while Uranus and Neptune are faint enough to require binoculars or a telescope.
Later Wednesday, a solar eclipse will be visible from parts of North America and Europe. The moon will completely block the sun in parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain and a small section of Portugal. In the United States, viewers in 26 states and the District of Columbia will see a partial solar eclipse, according to NASA.
While the moon will appear to swallow the sun whole in other parts of the world, Americans will see more of a polite nibble.
Depending on location, it will be visible from late morning into the afternoon, with viewing generally centered around midday or early afternoon. Alaska will see it earlier in the day, while parts of the Northeast will see the partial eclipse roughly between 1 and 3 p.m. local time.
Although the sun will never be completely covered, you'll still need proper eye protection.
Photographers should wear eclipse glasses whenever they look toward the sun, while the camera needs its own solar filter secured over the front of the lens. Eclipse glasses alone do not make it safe to look through an unfiltered optical viewfinder.
The same guidance applies when using telescopes and binoculars.
Those devices concentrate sunlight, so they need a specially designed solar filter secured over the front. The ISO 12312-2 standard applies to eclipse glasses and handheld viewers, not filters made for cameras or other optical equipment.
The American Astronomical Society has separate guidance on solar filters for cameras and other optical equipment.
Before photographing a solar eclipse, it's a good idea to practice before eclipse day so you are not fumbling with unfamiliar settings when it starts, according to NASA. Use a tripod and timer or remote shutter to steady the camera, turn off the flash, and test focus and exposure ahead of time.
A telephoto lens will give you a closer view of the sun, while a wider lens can capture the changing light, landscape and people watching. Again, never look through an optical viewfinder unless a proper solar filter is secured over the front of the lens. A screen or electronic viewfinder is safer for framing the shot, but the camera still needs its own filter.
Phone cameras also need a secure solar filter before they are pointed at the sun, covering every lens that may be in use.
Then comes the nightcap — and probably the main attraction.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The timing is about as good as it gets. A new moon means the sky will be especially dark for anyone who can get away from city lights. Under clear, dark skies, skywatchers could see around 100 meteors or more an hour.
The first meteors should begin appearing shortly after nightfall, with the show picking up later in the night.
The Perseids are beloved partly because they arrive when people are already outside — on vacations, at campgrounds, in back yards, on docks and around late-night fires.
They're known for bright meteors, occasional fireballs and lingering trains—those brief glowing streaks that seem to hang in the sky after the meteor is gone.
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