The annual Perseid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the debris trail left by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This celestial event reached its peak overnight, coinciding with a new moon that created optimal stargazing conditions by minimizing moonlight interference. Witness the shooting stars in the images below.
In one image, Perseid meteor streaks illuminate the sky above Mount Ramon in the Negev Desert, near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, captured early Thursday. Another striking image shows people observing a meteor streaking across the night sky at Visnjan Observatory in Croatia on Wednesday evening.
A meteor is seen streaking across the night sky above the Stone Dolls of Kuklica near Kratovo, North Macedonia, in the early hours of Thursday. Additionally, a group of people gathered at the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Mount Avala near Belgrade, Serbia, to watch the Perseid meteor shower together.
The night sky above the megalithic stone walls of the ancient Illyrian city of Daorson near Stolac, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, is illuminated by meteor streaks in another captivating image. Lastly, a meteor with a prominent green tail and the trails of two satellites are visible from Jacobsdorf, Germany, during the Perseid meteor shower on Wednesday.
Lastly, a Perseid meteor streaks across the night sky behind St. Mark’s Tower, a 17th-century coastal fortification near the village of Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq in Malta, captured in a breathtaking image.