Skywatchers on both sides of the Atlantic got a rare double bill this week. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow corridor of Greenland, Iceland, Spain and the northwestern tip of Portugal on Wednesday, with totality lasting up to two minutes and 18 seconds at its longest point, according to NASA.
The path of totality reached Iceland's western Snaefellsnes peninsula and the capital, Reykjavik, in the early evening before crossing into northern Spain, where the shadow's track widened to roughly 290 kilometers. Cities including Leon and Burgos, both close to the eclipse's centerline, saw totality durations of close to a minute and three-quarters, drawing crowds of visiting astronomers and tourists to the Meseta Central under mostly clear August skies.
Barely a day later, the sky offered a second act. The Perseid meteor shower, one of the most reliable and prolific of the year, reached its peak overnight into Thursday, with forecasters at Space.com pegging the moment of maximum activity at 14:53 UTC on August 13.
Conditions this year were close to ideal: a new moon left skies dark, and observers at rural, light-pollution-free sites could expect to see 50 to 75 meteors an hour during the pre-dawn hours, when the shower's radiant point in Perseus climbs highest. The Perseids, debris shed by comet Swift-Tuttle, remain active at lower rates for several days on either side of the peak.
The back-to-back events gave astronomy clubs and observatories across Europe and North America reason for a busy week, with eclipse chasers barely home from Spain before turning their cameras skyward again for the meteors.