As their name implies, the Aurigids appear to radiate from the constellation Auriga, the charioteer, which rises after local midnight this time of year. And with a moonless night on August 31, sky conditions should be ideal for meteor viewing.

During the eclipse’s peak, the moon will appear to fit snuggly within the sun’s disk, allowing only a ring of sunshine to be visible. Solar glasses are a must to watch this event safely. Stay tuned for a detailed viewer’s guide later this week.

Over the next few weeks, Neptune will be some 2.7 billion miles (4.3 billion kilometers) away from Earth. At that distance, sunlight reflected off its icy cloud tops takes nearly four hours to reach us, and the giant