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
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Class, please take out a No. 2 pencil…
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Greater flamingos, Lüderitz, Namibia
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Hungarian Parliament Building, Budapest, Hungary
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World Octopus Day
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Grand finish of Le Tour
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Waimea Canyon and Waipoo Falls, Kauai, Hawaii
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Surf s always up in Paia
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A whale of a picture
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Ambassadors of the airwaves
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‘Stepping’ into Black History Month
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Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
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Whanganui National Park, Retaruke, New Zealand
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Black History Month
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Holidays in the Venetian Lagoon
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Porto Flavia, Sardinia, Italy
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Happy New Year! (Again!)
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Astronomy Day and National Public Lands Day
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The Monastery of Roussanou, Greece
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To the 155th on the 155th
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Marine Day, Japan
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Whooper swans, Kotoku Pond, Japan
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A march toward a dream
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Bavljenac Island
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American goldfinch
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International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
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Holey moley–it’s National Doughnut Day!
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Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia
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First day of National Park Week
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Siblings Day
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Autumnal equinox
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

