Starship Asterisk*

Perseid Meteors over Mount Shasta

Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Perseus. That is why the meteor shower that peaks later this week is known as the Perseids -- the meteors all appear to came from a radiant toward Perseus. In terms of parent body, though, the sand-sized debris that makes up the Perseids meteors come from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet follows a well-defined orbit around our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of the Perseus. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears in Perseus. Featured here, a composite image containing over 60 meteors from last August's Pereids meteor shower shows many bright meteors that streaked over Mount Shasta, California, USA. This year's Perseids holds promise to be the best meteor shower of the year.

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Production note: The astrophotographer just sent in a higher resolution image and a new front "960" image with a smaller watermark. These new images have now been uploaded to the main NASA APOD.

- RJN

It's a beautiful image. I love the reflections of the Perseids in the lake. Even some fallen thin tree trunks at the edge of the lake seem to reflect the shape and size of the Perseids!

I think the faint pink nebulosity to the left of the Double Cluster is the Heart and Soul nebulas.

Ann

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[img3="The Perseid meteors appear to stream away from the shower's "radiant" point near the border of Perseus and Cassiopeia. (Sky & Telescope illustration)"]http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-conte ... Vic_HD.jpg[/img3]

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