Perseid Meteor Shower 2010 (PHOTOS/VIDEO)

Beginning in late July and running into mid-August every year, the Perseid meteor shower peaked early Friday morning.

Observers were dazzled with a fantastic light show, but those who missed it can still catch the meteors in action Friday night into early Saturday morning, especially visible to those in dark rural areas free of excess light pollution.

Space.com reports that the annual Perseid meteor shower is a glimpse of ancient debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, left behind after multiple orbits around the sun. The event derives its name from the Perseus constellation, which is the origin point from which the meteors appear to come from.

Check out a time lapse video and photos of the Perseid meteor shower below, and VOTE for your favorite!

1 of 10

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Time lapse video of 2010 Perseids Meteor Shower from YouTube user alatafelis.

GMO Protests

A Festive Steak Dinner

May 2013 Central U.S. Tornadoes (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

10 Worst States For Animal Abuse Laws

Top 10 Costliest U.S. Hurricanes

Moore Oklahoma Tornado Victims

Time lapse video of 2010 Perseids Meteor Shower from YouTube user alatafelis.

comments(66)

Total comments: 66 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

This Meteor Shower Photo

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Dud On Fire

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Meteor Shower Photos

loading...

Top 5 Meteor Shower Photos

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[missouriwatcher]

10:20 PM on 08/16/2010

I spent quite a bit of time watching for them all week with mostly clear skies, and only saw 1. Needless to say, I'm am somewhat disappointed; but I did get a fantastic showing in '92, so perhaps I shouldn't feel too badly.

[Helixtwice]

05:48 PM on 08/15/2010

Beautiful meteor shower video.

[jedime]

11:24 AM on 08/15/2010

the second photo takes my breath away.

we were unable to see anything the other night due to light pollution. :( i have had success watching the Leonid in November, though, and am looking forward to it this year.

[mamacat]

06:41 PM on 08/14/2010

Every year I go outside and try to catch the Perseids, and the other meteor showers, and every year I am disappointed - except once. Over 50 years ago we went outside during the Perseids and they were amazing. I guess we caught it at just the right time, because for over an hour it was the most spectacular thing imaginable. Of course it helped a lot that we were up in the mountains and there was no moon.
My advice: keep looking during the scheduled meteor showers, because one of these times you might get lucky.

[PenGoddess]

09:27 PM on 08/14/2010

I remember laying on a breakwater in Northern Michigan thirty five years ago watching the Perseid. There must have been thirty or forty an hour. We were out there for about three hours. It was amazingly beautiful. They always come near my birthday so I consider them an annual gift from Mother Nature. I am also partial to Leonid in November.

[Greybeard53]

06:07 PM on 08/14/2010

#1 is fake BS. The CLOUDS are moving faster than the purported "meteors"! And no meteor could ever have made twists and turns like those in the #1 video.

[melj44]

04:55 PM on 08/14/2010

This is what I WOULD have been able to see if there wasn't so much smog in my city.

[liberalrebuttal]

01:09 PM on 08/14/2010

Do you guys notice that no one ever catches footage of a UFO during a Meteor shower when everyone is looking at the sky ?

Curious ya ?

[taiwanjohn]

02:00 AM on 08/14/2010

Why does HuffPo always post these stories the day AFTER they occur? Sure there may have been some mention of this a couple of weeks ago, but that's a long time in today's busy lifestyle. It would be much better to post these stories the day BEFORE they occur: "ATTENTION! METEOR SHOWER TOMORROW NIGHT!"

Now THAT would be useful.

--jrd

[Mum]

08:24 AM on 08/14/2010

The Perseid Meteor Showers happen every year at just about the same time. The peak nights may be a bit different every year, and, of course, a lot depends on having optimal viewing conditions - preferably no moon, no or minimal light pollution, no clouds, etc.

The Leonid Meteor Showers occur in mid-November, and they are even more spectacular than the Perseids. I'm not sure what the best global viewing spots will be for this November. Last year they were in Australia and south Asia.

The weather sections of some newspapers report on the meteor showers and advise on peak viewing nights.

[PenGoddess]

09:31 PM on 08/14/2010

Our local weather people always remind us when they are coming up. But you can pretty well count on them being between August 10 - 15. The Leonid are a bit better where we are becasue it's usually cold and clear. The starts always seem brighter when there is no humidity in the air.

[EJavaM07]

12:12 AM on 08/14/2010

If these show "ancient debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, left behind after multiple orbits around the sun", why are we seeing primarily events following two nearly opposing vectors?

Don't multiple orbits mean that they are more or less continuing to move together?

[nonamesplease]

04:27 PM on 08/13/2010

Number 2 looks like a van Gogh painting.

[StephenJK]

02:10 AM on 08/14/2010

Makes you wonder how he imagined those paintings...

[PenGoddess]

09:34 PM on 08/14/2010

Like this Van Gogh painting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM

[BlueOnBlue]

03:21 PM on 08/13/2010

Darn, nothing but clouds here. I love seeing this annual show, but will have to miss it this time.

I still remember the one in 2000, when my wife and I counted nearly 200 meteors an hour, with quite a few fireballs.

[BlueOnBlue]

03:29 PM on 08/13/2010

Here's a shot I took in 2000, of a Perseid meteor going through Orion's sword.

http://sigma-2.com/OrionMeteor.jpg

The brightest portion is when the meteor burst into a small fireball.

[smarttart001]

10:43 PM on 08/13/2010

Fantastic!

[Mum]

08:30 AM on 08/14/2010

Cool. I went out early yesterday morning, but only saw two. I couldn't get far enough away from the light pollution.

When my kids were little, we used to go to a cabin in the upper peninsula of Michigan, out in the middle of nowhere, and we nearly always ended up there during the Perseids. It was amazing. The sky was utterly black, with the stars laid out like jewels on black velvet. There were nights when I couldn't even keep count of the number of meteors.

I'm hoping the Leonids will put on a good show in our part of the planet this year.

[Manwhatthe]

03:00 PM on 08/13/2010

Damn it I missed it!!

[Moshe]

03:20 PM on 08/13/2010

Not to worry my friend.

It will be back same time next year.

[Mum]

08:32 AM on 08/14/2010

You can probably still catch some. They peaked on the 12th and 13th, but if you have clear skies tonight and even tomorrow night, you might see a bit of a show.

[Astraeus]

02:51 PM on 08/13/2010

Dear friends at Huffington Post,

You were suckered-in by the first video. Those streaks were not meteors, they were airplanes. I promise you, they were airplanes. Meteors flash in a fraction of a second, and you will notice that this is a time lapse picture because you can see the stars moving from the Earth's rotation. In a time lapse video, such as this one, you could not see ANY meteors, none...zilch, even if they were there. It was a nice video though...nice music.

(Sorry I couldn't resist commenting. I am an amateur astronomer and saw through this immediately.)

[Just4theHalibut]

11:21 AM on 08/14/2010

I wondered about that myself. I'm no expert but I thought the meteorites were supposed
to all come from the same general direction, one of the was from the opposite direction.
Unfortunately cloudy skies here.. and mosquitoes!

[24fans]

01:16 PM on 08/14/2010

I must have seen eight or nine last night in just fifteen minute and they were must faster and short lived than in this video, certainly they do not 'curve'- cu-dos for pointing this out and please Huff Post get this video off the list! I know you all are busy and all, but a little respect for the phenomenal world outside on our man-made one please.

[DNOMYAR]

02:47 PM on 08/13/2010

I've watched for years, from the high desert. (Joshua Tree) It's NOT a "shower".
The media should stop the hype. Are any of these reporters actually watching.
It's a few meteors an hour. The best are spectacular. But, it's NOT, a SHOWER.
None the less, I recommend an overnight stay in Joshua Tree National Park during the Perseid peak nights.

[hellboundtrain]

07:33 PM on 08/13/2010

I watched several years ago from a small town in the Rockies and did count about 65 streaks in the hour that I was out there. There was very little light pollution where I was and was truly amazing.
I certainly would have called it a shower.

[PenGoddess]

09:43 PM on 08/14/2010

I have seen them from the blackest sky in the Midwest and I would definitely call them a shower. But, the Leonid are a bit more showery.

[Matthew Wills]

02:40 PM on 08/13/2010

The moon sets in Brooklyn, NY, tonight at 9:39 and it's supposed to be clear. We'll be out in Propspect Park, not the best place by far, obviously, but you do what you can where you can.