Perseid Meteor Shower: Check out the meteor shower lighting up the world's skies!
- Published
Stargazers from around the world have snapped some amazing shots of the phenomenon. These long exposure shots put on top of each other capture all the meteor tails that could be seen from just one spot in the Republic of North Macedonia.
A meteor is simply a small piece of rock burning up as it enters earths atmosphere. here you can see meteor tails lighting up the sky in Beijing, China. The phenomenon brings up to 100 meteors an hour. And their average speed is 36 miles per SECOND!
In Croatia, one sky watcher got out their telescope to check out the shower. The great thing about the Perseids is that unlike some other cosmic events, you don't need any special technology to watch them. NASA even recommended NOT using telescopes and binoculars.
In Albania, the Shebenik National Park was a good place to spot a meteor flying through the night sky. The Perseids can be as small as a grain of sand, or as big as a pea! Despite looking like a ball of fire flying through the sky - they pose no danger to Earth.
The wide open skies in Israel were perfect for viewing the yearly shower. Some call the glowing bright tail they create in the sky a “shooting star”. But that’s not quite true. They aren't really stars, just tiny chunks of rock burning up in the Earth's atmosphere!
Heavy cloud meant stargazers in the UK were mostly disappointed. But there was still the odd sighting here and there! Here you can see the meteors putting on a show at Corfe Castle in Dorset in the South of England.
And on the border or Wales and England, Callum White spent three hours looking over the River Wye - "I saw quite a few meteors and the camera captured even more".
Some amazing pictures have been taken of the cosmic phenomenon across Europe. In Cantabria in Spain, sky watchers got lucky and could see the Milky Way as well as the meteor shower.
And in Turkey, a meteor was spotted in front of the Sphinx Door at the ancient city of Hattusa.
This beautiful shot catches a shooting star and the lighthouse of the island of Lastovo in Croatia. If spotting meteors sound like is your kinda thing – don’t worry. You may have missed the peak window for spotting a meteor but it’s not over yet. And the Perseid meteor shower happens every year. So with clear skies and low lighting you could have a shot at spotting the shower yourself.
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