A flight-illuminated path and milky way were seen in the sky on August 14, 2023, in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Every summer, bright lights seem to shoot out of the constellation named for Greek hero Perseus. And while falling space rocks might not sound as epic as slaying a legendary monster, the colorful shimmering light of this annual meteor shower is still quite a sight to behold. This year, the show started in mid-July and will last until the beginning of September, but just this weekend marked the peak of the season. The waning crescent moon allows the meteors to truly glow against a dark night-to-early-morning sky, when skywatchers have noted seeing up to 90 meteors shoot across the stars every hour.
If you missed this year’s peak, luckily the shower still looks great in photographs. Take a look at some of our favorites, and set a pre-dawn alarm if you want to try to catch the Perseids before they vanish in the fall.
An observer watches the Perseid meteor shower at Mount Hamilton in California, United States on August 13, 2023. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesA meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower on August 14, 2023 in Changsha, Hunan Province of China. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesPerseid meteor shower is observed over Red Church and Guzelyurt Monastery Valley in Guzelyurt district of Aksaray, Turkiye on August 12, 2023. Photo: Aytug Can Sencar/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesPeople watching the Perseid meteor shower over the natural reserve area of Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) at the desert of Al Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/picture alliance via Getty ImagesA view of an abandoned historic caravanserai and night sky, near the city of Garmsar in Semnan province 77 miles) southeast Tehran, Iran, at the peak of annual Perseid meteor shower, August 13, 2023. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesA meteor streaks across the night sky above Leeberg hill during the Perseid meteor shower on August 13, 2023 in Grossmugl, Austria. Photo: Heinz-Peter Bader/Getty ImagesA meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower on August 13, 2023 in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesThe Perseid meteor shower over the natural reserve area of Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) at the desert of Al Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/picture alliance via Getty ImagesPerseid meteor shower is observed over Dnipro, Ukraine on August 13, 2023. Photo: Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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