Perseid Meteor Shower Captured in Stunning Photos

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A meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseids meteor shower peak at Pedernales Falls State Park in Johnson City, Texas, on Aug. 12, 2024.

If you spotted meteors streaking across the night sky, that was the Perseid meteor shower.

This annual shower typically begins in mid-July, but is barely noticeable then. The peak, when the most meteors are visible, usually occurs around mid-August and can be seen globally.

The ideal time to view the Perseid meteor shower in the U.S. was the night of Aug. 11. However, if you missed it, don’t worry: you can still catch a decent number of meteors in the early morning hours of Aug. 13. This meteor shower is considered the best of the year—observers in dark skies away from city lights could see roughly 20-30 meteors per hour.

The meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the debris trail of a comet called Swift-Tuttle. As pieces of this debris enter Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up due to friction, causing the streaks in the sky known as “shooting stars” or “falling stars.”

Photographers captured stunning images of this year’s event.

Here are some of the most striking photos:

Astronomers observe the northern skies during the Perseid meteor shower in Kozjak

This long exposure picture shows a meteor crossing the night sky over the Post-Camaldolese monastery in the village of Wigry, Suwalki region, Poland, during the annual Perseids meteor shower early on Aug. 12, 2024.

Stone head sculptures at the archaeological site of Mount Nemrut in Adyaman, southeastern Turkey, on August 11, 2024, during the Perseid meteor shower.

A meteor crossing the night sky over a sunflowers field during the Perseid meteor shower, in Guadalajara, Spain.

A shooting star shines in the night sky over the North Sea near Pilsum ,Lower Saxony, Germany, on Aug. 12, 2024.