2018 Perseid meteor shower sizzles across the sky

Each August, the Perseid meteor shower lights up the night sky, sending patient photographers outside with their best gear.

Photographer Bill Coulter caught this dusky view with Perseids and Mars accompanying the Milky Way over Hillsdale Lake in Kansas.

David Pratt chose a historic spot to photograph the Perseids over the Gatehouse in Northumberland, UK.

Flickr photographer Jim Denny caught Perseids and palm trees from the island of Kaua'i, Hawaii.

This stunning image is a four-shot pano from the Trona Pinnacles in the California Desert National Conservation Area. 

"I managed to get Mars, Jupiter and several Perseid meteors in this series of shots," says photographer Tom Grubbe.

Nothing like a night under the (shooting) stars, according to Virginia shutterbug Rex Robichaux.

Luis Felipe Sanchez used time-lapse photography to grab star trails and a few Perseids on the night of August 10 to 11.  

Nick Lucas photographed Perseids backed by a purple sky from the southern UK.

Beauty can be found behind outbuildings, as in this snap from UK photographer Richard Lay.

New Mexico earns its nickname -- Land of Enchantment -- in this photo from Mike Lewinski of Tres Piedras.

Luis Calcada created this composite of seven shots, looking at the center of the Milky Way from Ammersee, near Munich, Germany.

Colin McIntosh shot this stunner from his garden in Hampshire, UK.

Steve Knight captured the shower against the Cygnus, the swan. 

Mika Wist created this composite of some early Perseids flying to their ends over Finland.

"The best of a bunch I caught of the Perseids last night, battling with a foggy lens here and there," says UK photographger Steve Geliot. "I love the colours in the tail."

The Perseids can still be seen in lower number through late August and will return again in full force next year.