APOD: 2026 August 18 – Perseids from Perseus
The post APOD: 2026 August 18 – Perseids from Perseus appeared first on NASA Science .
This was a successful year for the Perseids meteor shower. A major factor was the absence of the Moon, which allowed for a clearer night sky and the visibility of more meteors than usual. The Moon, instead, was engaged in a total solar eclipse that was observable from Greenland and Spain near the peak of the Perseids.
The Perseids occur when Earth passes through a stream of debris expelled by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Though individual meteors are usually as small as grains of sand, they tend to be fast and bright due to Swift-Tuttle's orbital path, which is partly counter to Earth's orbital motion. The featured image collection, taken over several nights in Jizerka, Czech Republic, shows Perseids meteor streaks originating from a single point in the sky known as its radiant in Perseus.
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