The peak mornings for the Perseid meteor shower in 2023 were August 11, 12 and 13. The moon was a waning crescent in the early morning sky. And by all accounts it was a great year for the Perseids! Enjoy these photos from the EarthSky community. Thanks to all who contributed. View more community photos here.
By the way, some are asking:
Can we still see Perseid meteors?
And the answer is … maybe. The Perseid meteor shower tends to rise to its peak slowly, and then fall off rapidly. So the peak days of the shower have come and gone. But you still might catch a Perseid meteor in a dark sky in the coming week or so.
Also, there are always more meteor showers to come. Northern Hemisphere autumn features a number of them. Visit EarthSky’s meteor guide.
Perseid meteor photos from August 13
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | It pays to be someplace dark! Sara Slate was in Terlingua, Texas, on August 13, 2023, when she captured these Perseid meteors over a 3-hour period. She said she created the composite from 120 single frames, processed in Adobe Lightroom, then stacked in Adobe Photoshop. She shot the photos on a full-spectrum modified Sony a7 with a 12mm lens. Thanks, Sara!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Radu Anghel in Motoseni, Romania, wrote: “A bright Perseid meteor and a Polaris startrail from August 13, 2023. I set up the camera pointing at Polaris, and after that I just enjoyed the celestial show with family and friends until the morning.” Beautiful, Radu! Thank you.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | V.Liard Photography in Epernay, France, wrote: “Hi EarthSky, on the occasion of the night of the stars 2023 I was able to photograph this magnificent Perseid fireball above the city of Epernay … It’s my first … Celebrating! :-)” Thank you and congratulations, dear Vegastar!
More from August 13
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Martha Dean in San Saba County, Texas, captured this Perseid meteor on the morning of August 13. She wrote: “Great memory-making night, watching Perseid meteors with family.” Nothing better! Thank you, Martha.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Miguel Sala at the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in Teruel, Spain, captured these meteors on August 13, 2023, and wrote: “These are the Perseids that my camera captured last Saturday, a total of 970 photographs taken over 3 hours and 30 minutes. In the photograph we can also see: Jupiter (brightest point at bottom right), Andromeda Galaxy (in the central part on the right) and the star cluster Pleiades (below and to the left of Jupiter).” Thank you, Miguel!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy in Oregon captured these meteors on August 13, too, and wrote: “Three Perseid meteors, stars and the Milky Way. At first I wasn’t sure that they were Perseid meteors. Then I read that the Perseids are visible anywhere in the sky. What a thrill to watch them fall from the heavens, lots of them! The Perseids lower left of the Milky Way and upper right are the only colorful ones that the camera captured, among all the many images I took.” Thanks, Cecille!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Roland Kueng in Wolfhausen, Zurich, Switzerland, captured this colorful Perseid on August 13. And see the little galaxy nearby? It’s the large spiral galaxy next door to our Milky Way, called the Andromeda galaxy. Roland wrote: “Waiting long time to get a reasonably nice Perseid meteor, together with Milky Way and neighbor galaxy Andromeda. I used 20-second exposition time with 4-second interval.” Thank you, Roland!
Meteor photos from August 12
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Palma in Mina São Domingos, Mertola, Portugal, caught these meteors on August 12, 2023, and wrote: “In the previous night of August 11, I noticed that most of meteors were ‘flying’ away from radiant point in Perseus, and showing up very beautifully in the Milky Way region. So I decided to set up 2 cameras, one pointing toward the radiant in Perseus and another one pointing south. It was a good decision as most of the meteors as can be seen by the attached picture shown up ‘near’ the Milky Way.” Thank you, Jose!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Juan Pablo Revert was at the Observatorio Astrofísico Javalambre in Teruel, Spain – August 12, 2023 – when he captured these colorful Perseid meteors. Thank you, Juan!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Osama Fathi captured these Perseid meteors in front of the Milky Way in the White Desert National Park, Egypt, on August 12, 2023. Osama wrote: “The single tree in the White Desert National Park, the Acacia Tree or Elsanta, is 300 years old and still growing. It is extremely unique because it is alone and grows above the rocks with its roots over the rock.” Thanks, Osama!
Bottom line: See these Perseid meteor photos from EarthSky community members from around the world. Thanks to all who contributed! Submit your photo here.
Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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