Your Best Photos of Perseid Meteor Shower

Star Trails on Parade
Photograph by Jethro Stamps, National Geographic Your Shot
The Perseid meteor shower put on a celestial fireworks show early this this week, dazzling sky-watchers around the world with as many as 70 shooting stars per hour at peak times.
In the above image, taken August 13, a lone Perseid meteor near the horizon joins a parade of stars circling the celestial pole marked by the North Star. This stunning shot is actually a composite of 250 individual images each 30 seconds long. (See our top tips for enjoying the Perseid meteor shower.)
Every mid-August, Earth slams into a cloud of debris left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle. This debris hits the atmosphere at high speeds, ionizing and producing streaks of light known as "shooting stars."
If you have a picture of the Perseid meteor shower and would like to submit it to National Geographic's Your Shot, our editors will consider adding it to this gallery. Please include the hashtag #meteor.
—Andrew Fazekas
Published August 14, 2013
Cosmic Fireflies
Photograph by Kenneth Brandon, National Geographic Your Shot
Like a swarm of cosmic fireflies, six dozen Perseid meteors appear next to an ancient bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California on August 12. (See our guide for watching the spectacular Perseids.)
Each Perseid meteor hits the atmosphere at speeds of about 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) per hour and burns up at altitudes of some 40 miles (70 kilometers).
Published August 14, 2013
Rain of Meteors
Photograph by Chris Williams, National Geographic Your Shot
A flurry of Perseid shooting stars rain down on Rattlesnake Lake in North Bend, Washington, in the early morning of August 13. (See more Perseid pictures from 2012.)
Falling stars of the annual Perseid meteor shower are mostly sand-grain-size debris shed by the passing comet Swift-Tuttle.
Published August 14, 2013
Streak of Light
Photograph by David Nadolney, National Geographic Your Shot
A momentary streak of light by a Perseid meteor above a lone tree is captured in this photo taken on top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea on August 12.
Astronomers estimate that at least ten tons of meteoric dust rains down through the atmosphere from interplanetary space every day.
Published August 14, 2013
View From Colorado
Photograph by Max Seigal, National Geographic Your Shot
A flurry of Perseid meteors appear to radiate out from the Milky Way galaxy in the background of this composite image taken over many hours at Dream Lake in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park in the early morning hours of August 13, 2013.
The name of the shower comes from the region in the sky that the Perseid meteors appear to originate from, the northern Perseus constellation.
Published August 14, 2013
Nosediving Fireball
Photograph by Patric Nadeau, National Geographic Your Shot
A nosediving Perseid fireball punctures the early morning skies of the open countryside near Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada
The Perseids are considered the most prolific of all annual meteor showers when it comes to fireballs, with baseball to basketball sized stones hitting the atmosphere and producing unusually bright meteors that can cast shadows and produce lingering smoke trails.
Published August 14, 2013
Cosmic Traffic Jam
Photograph by Doug Bisson, National Geographic Your Shot
In what appears to be a cosmic traffic jam, a shooting star and a satellite pass through the starry skies above an oil well in western Canada.
Every Perseid meteor originates from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which swings through the inner solar system every 133 years. Each time it approaches the sun, the 6 mile (10 kilometer) wide icy interloper sheds tons of gas and dust that gets deposited in a stream of debris behind the comet.
Published August 14, 2013
Meteoric Peekaboo
Photograph by Patric Nadeau, National Geographic Your Shot
During peak activity time for the Perseid shower, on August 12, 2013, a distant bright meteor plays peekaboo with passing clouds above the barren landscape near Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec.
“After 2 hours of wait and some luck, a nice meteor fell between the clouds,” wrote photographer Patric Nadeau.
Published August 14, 2013
Perseid Triad
Photograph by Harish Narendar, National Geographic Your Shot
A triad of shooting stars crisscross in front of the Milky Way band above the town of Lehi, Utah during the peak of the Perseid shower on the night of August 12, 2013.
“One heck of a night, watching the Perseid meteor shower and star gazing that was made special by the Milky Way stretching across the sky making for an amazing background,” wrote photographer Harish Narendar.
“While these little guys whizzed passed every other minute putting on a light show,” he wrote, “it was hardly an easy job getting them captured.”
Published August 14, 2013
View From Montana
Photograph by Mike Cohea, National Geographic Your Shot
On August 5, 2013 an early Perseid fireball appears to hang above the green-lit, mountain top Medicine Point Lookout in western Montana.
A nearby forest fire and town accounts for the subtle sky glow behind the old tower.
"I used a 30-second exposure and my headlamp to illuminate the lookout," wrote photographer Mike Cohea.
Published August 14, 2013