Skywatchers across North America and Europe are set to experience two distinct celestial events within a single day on Wednesday, Aug. 12, as a partial solar eclipse crosses much of the region before darkness brings the annual peak of the Perseid meteor shower under an especially dark, moonless sky.

The solar eclipse will unfold first, during daylight hours. A partial solar eclipse will be visible from Alaska, eastern Canada, 26 U.S. states, and most of Europe, though the moon's darkest umbral shadow, the portion of the eclipse that produces total darkness, will miss North America entirely. A narrow path of total solar eclipse will instead pass through eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain, where the moon will completely block the sun for up to 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

Within North America, the deepest partial eclipse will occur in far northern Canada, while Alaska and the northeastern United States will offer the best viewing opportunities within the country. Fairbanks, Alaska, will see approximately 37% of the sun covered by the moon at around 8:27 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time. Within the contiguous United States, Presque Isle, Maine, will experience the largest partial eclipse, reaching roughly 28% coverage at approximately 1:50 p.m. Eastern time. Boston will see about 16% of the sun covered around 1:53 p.m., while New York City will experience approximately 10% coverage at roughly 1:54 p.m. Eastern time. Because the sun........

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