Six planets, a total eclipse and a meteor shower all hit tonight, and stargazers have never had it this good

Tonight the sky is doing three things at once, and it is honestly showing off a bit.

Within about 24 hours, stargazers get a six planet alignment before dawn, a total solar eclipse in the evening and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower overnight. Astronomers are calling it a genuine once in a while trifecta, not just hype dressed up for clicks.

The planet parade lines up Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune before sunrise. Mars and Saturn are easy naked eye spots, Uranus needs binoculars and Neptune really wants a telescope, so don't feel bad if you only clock a couple.

The total solar eclipse is the headline act. The path of totality sweeps across Greenland, Iceland, Arctic Russia, northern Spain and the very tip of Portugal, making it mainland Europe's first total eclipse since 1999. Because it happens late in the day with the sun low on the horizon, it is being described as a sunset eclipse, all golden light and long shadows rather than the usual daytime blackout.

Then the Perseids peak after dark, timed almost perfectly with a new moon, which means no moonlight washing out the show. If you have ever tried to watch a meteor shower through a bright sky and seen basically nothing, this is the year conditions actually cooperate.

Worth being upfront here if you are reading this from Australia. The eclipse path does not come near us, so totality is a livestream job rather than a look up moment. The Perseids radiant sits low for southern hemisphere skies too, so expect a handful of streaks rather than the fireworks northern viewers get. The planet parade is your best bet locally, weather and light pollution depending.

None of that makes it less worth paying attention to. Grab a livestream for the eclipse, step outside after dark for whatever Perseids you can catch, and see how many planets you can actually pick out before the sun comes up. Nights like this do not come around often, and the next mainland European total eclipse is not due for years.

Set an alarm, find a dark patch of sky, and let the internet's astronomy nerds do the rest of the explaining.