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Perseid meteor shower lights up the night sky
Meteors lit up the sky before dawn Thursday. NASA has called this year's Perseids meteor shower "one of the best potential viewings in years."
Stars and shooting stars are pictured during the annual Perseids meteor shower, with the 2827-meters Drusenfluh mountain (L) and the 2817-meters Sulzfluh mountain (R), in St. Antoenien in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, on Aug. 13, 2015.
By Olivia Kestin, Olivia Kestin
Meteors lit up the sky before dawn Thursday. NASA has called this year's Perseids meteor shower "one of the best potential viewings in years."
"The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years," according to NASA. "Every August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet’s orbital debris. This debris field -- mostly created hundreds of years ago -- consists of bits of ice and dust shed from the comet which burn up in Earth’s atmosphere to create one of the premier meteor showers of the year."
Photographers and observers captured the action. Check out the photos below.
Stars and shooting stars are pictured during the annual Perseids meteor shower, with the 2827-meters Drusenfluh mountain (L) and the 2817-meters Sulzfluh mountain (R), in St. Antoenien in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, on Aug. 13, 2015.Meteor streaks across the sky in the early morning during the Perseid meteor shower in Ramon Carter near the town of Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, Aug. 13, 2015.A stop signal stands under a star covered sky over the Sierra Morena, a starlight reserve deserved by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), during the Perseid meteor shower in Cordoba, southern Spain, early Aug. 13, 2015. Sierra Morena is regarded one of the 'darkest places' on earth during night times because of its remote location without so-called 'light pollution' from illuminated urban areas in the surrounding. A stargazer waits for the Perseid meteor shower to begin near Bobcaygeon, Ontario, on Aug. 12, 2015. Picture taken August 12, 2015.Meteors streak across the sky over a Roman theatre in the ruins of Acinipio, during the Perseid meteor shower near Ronda, southern Spain, in the early morning of Aug. 13, 2015. Acinipo, known as \"Ronda la Vieja\" (Old Ronda), is an archaeological site located in a plateau at 999 meters above sea level, declared Heritage of Cultural Interest Site, which includes a Roman theatre and important Prehistoric remains. The facade of the theatre was illuminated by a torch.A meteor streaks across the sky in the early morning as people watching during the Perseid meteor shower in Ramon Carter near the town of Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, Aug. 13, 2015.
