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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Castle Day Japan
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Marshland, Gloucester, MA
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A picture-perfect day on Trillium
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Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
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American Wetlands Month
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Does this chameleon look a little insecure?
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Just another day in paradise
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The National Museum of the American Indian
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National Llama Day
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Looking down on the Otter
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Gray seal sleeping on the beach, Orkney Islands, Scotland
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Celebrating 78 years of Everglades National Park
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Zion National Park turns 103
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Happy Presidents Day
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Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile
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Crescent Lake near Dunhuang, China
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A path lain with petals
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Happy Holi!
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
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Wanderin Wawayanda
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In celebration of cats
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Kagami-ike, Nagano, Japan
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Feeling lazy? Today s your day.
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Frog Month
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A species no longer at risk
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Rainbow Mountain
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