The Perseid meteor bathe peaked on Aug 12–13, overcoming the glare of a waning gibbous moon to placed on a spectacular present of capturing stars that delighted onlookers worldwide.
The Perseids are lively each July and August as Earth barrels by means of the path of dusty particles shed by the wandering comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Our planet plowed by means of the densest part of the comet’s trail on Aug. 12-13, when numerous cometary shards collided with Earth, burning up in spectacular vogue as they have been overcome by the friction of atmospheric entry.
In earlier years, the Perseids have produced between 50 to 100 meteors per hour at their peak, with capturing stars emanating from a degree of origin generally known as a radiant situated within the constellation Perseus. Unfortunately, the 2025 Perseids happened to coincide with the appearance of a waxing gibbous moon, which bleached the sky with moonlight, blotting out all but the brightest members of the ancient meteor shower.
Thankfully, there were still plenty of bright meteors to be seen, which outshone the moon to dazzle stargazers and provide a mesmerizing target for the astronomical community, who captured the shooting stars against a backdrop of aurora and framed spectacular landscapes.
Read on to see a selection of spectacular shooting stars captured during the 2025 Perseid meteor shower.
The 2025 Perseid meteor shower in pictures
Aurora photographer Harlan Thomas struck gold, not solely capturing Perseid meteors streaking throughout the sky but in addition the northern lights dancing overhead! Related scenes performed out final yr when the Perseids’ peak coincided with a strong geomagnetic storm that sparked auroras over North America.
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Photographer Josh Dury captured a panoramic view of Perseid meteors raining down alongside the glowing band of the Milky Method in the direction of the Durdle Door rock formation on the coast of Dorset within the UK.
“As this yr’s occasion will likely be flooded by gentle of the waning gibbous moon, this picture was captured earlier within the month when the moon was at a a lot smaller part,” Dury instructed House.com in an e mail. “The problem being, the height of the bathe could be weeks away. With an integration time of seven hours, 14 meteors have been captured on this composite, tracked picture utilising the picture sequence.”
This putting Perseid was snapped by Amreet Kini throughout the early morning hours of Aug. 3 utilizing a Canon R6 full-frame mirrorless digital camera with a Rokinon RF 14 mm lens from a rural location in central Illinois.
“This was the brightest meteor of the night time and it truly left a ‘smoke’ path (ionized fuel) that lingered for just a few seconds,” Kini instructed House.com in an e mail. “I had set my digital camera on a timer to take 20 second images constantly however with about 1 second between exposures, and I’d have utterly missed the meteor if it got here by in that one second between photographs.”
Jeff Berkes captured this view of a fiery meteor blazing Earthward with a Nikon Z9 digital camera whereas operating an evening sky images workshop in Yellowstone, Wyoming.
“The show lasted no [longer than] 1.5 seconds but it surely felt like an eternity,” stated Berkes. “Among the finest firefalls I’ve ever seen and one of the best one which I’ve captured during the last 15 years. What a particular night time this was. With just a few meteor showers happening it’s exhausting to inform which one it got here from, or if it’s a random! Both method, you simply by no means know what you will notice whenever you step out into the night time. That’s the reason I like it a lot.”
Matt Melnyk was capable of snap this uncommon view of a Perseid blazing by means of a sky wreathed in colourful aurora at a peak of 37,000 toes (11,280 meters) whereas flying aboard a Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ touring from Calgary to London on the morning of Aug. 10.
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Photographer Ercin Erturk arrange a putting composition that featured Perseids racing alongside the Milky Method within the sky above the Kusca Fairy Chimneys rock formations within the Cihanbeyli district of Konya, Turkey, on the night time of Aug. 12, because the Perseids got here to a peak.
This putting view of a Perseid meteor framed by the columned roof of the Temple of Zeus within the historic metropolis web site of Çavdarhisar was captured on Aug. 13 by Kemal Aslan from the Kütahya Province of Turkey.
This picture of a solitary meteor putting by means of the starry sky above the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Area of China was additionally captured within the early hours of Aug. 13, as Earth handed by means of the densest a part of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
A vibrant Perseid was additionally noticed brightening the sky above the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Avala Mountain in Belgrade by Andrej Isakovic on the night time of Aug. 12, as stargazers gathered to witness the 2025 Perseid most.
Photographer Zafer Goder used long-exposure images to nice impact to seize a number of Perseid meteors streaking by means of the sky on Aug. 12, alongside the intense strains of star trails, which may be seen circling the north star Polaris within the sky above Turkey.
The Perseids will proceed to be lively till Aug. 23, albeit at a a lot decrease hourly charge, so it is nonetheless potential to see the well-known capturing stars earlier than they disappear from our skies for an additional yr. Stargazers hoping to seize a Perseid ought to take a look at our information to photographing meteor showers and would do effectively to select up Josh Dury’s e-book ’52 Assignments: Evening Pictures’, which supplies sensible recommendation on tips on how to picture the night time sky.
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