Get ready for one of the most dazzling celestial displays of the year—the Perseid meteor shower. Active from mid-July through late August, this year it reaches its spectacular peak on the night of August 12 and into the early hours of August 13. The Perseids light up the skies when Earth passes through a trail of icy and rocky debris left behind by Comet Swift–Tuttle, which last passed close to our planet in 1992. These meteors are called the Perseids because they appear to streak from the direction of the constellation Perseus.
Perseid meteor shower over Nevada
Today in History
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It’s Siblings Day!
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Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens
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Everglades National Park marks 90 years
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Bohemian waxwings in Canada
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International Day of the Tropics
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Celebrating Bike to Work Week, May 14-18
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A universe underground
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Sea Slug Day
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National Park Service Founders Day
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Wheels up in Beijing
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Falling for Tennessee
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Looking for peace on the precipice
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You re feeling sleepy
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National Park Week: Wind Cave National Park
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Assembling the Smithsonian
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Marshland, Gloucester, MA
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A Christmas market with a long history
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Mitsumata blossoms
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Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
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Entoloma hochstetteri mushroom at Lake Mahinapua, New Zealand
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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International Day of Human Space Flight
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International Day of the World s Indigenous Peoples
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A Eurasian red squirrel in Switzerland
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Beavers Bend
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Aqueduct, Arkadia Park, Poland
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Tolkien Reading Day
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Why does this panda cub look so happy?
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Hitsujiyama Park, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
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Thick-billed raven, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
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