7 Awesome Photos Of The 2013 Perseid Meteor Shower

Stargaze without leaving your laptop.

By Francie Diep | Published Aug 12, 2013 8:30 PM

Science

Missed the peak of the Perseid meteor shower last night, or just want to compare shots? Check out these lovely photos, shared by folks in several places throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

The Perseids occur annually from July to August, peaking one night in August. They’re debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet. Most pieces are more than 1,000 years old. When the Earth passes through the comet’s dust trail, any bits of ice and dust that get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere disintegrate, creating the streaks you see. Humans have observed the shower for at least 2,000 years, according to NASA.

PHOTO GALLERY:

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Milky Way And One Perseid Meteor

Photo taken in Fonts Point, San Diego, California

Blue Skies

Photo taken at the Deerlick Astronomy Village in Georgia

Early Bird

Although the shower peaked last night (August 11) and early this morning, Perseids actually appear in the sky over many days from mid-July to mid-August. This photo shows what’s likely a Perseid, snapped July 28, 2013, overlooking Edinburgh, Scotland.

Fireball

An unusually large Perseid captured by NASA

Surrounded By Light

Though caught between the cities of Palm Springs (left in the photo) and San Diego (right), Flickr user Tom Munnecke was nevertheless able to find a dark spot in Anza, California, to snap this photo of a Perseid. He was hosting a star party for a Girl Scout troop, he writes.