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2020 Perseid meteor shower photos shine bright in a dark year

The biggest shooting-star show of the year did not disappoint.

Eric Mack
Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about energy, renewables, science and climate to bring educational content to life on topics around the solar panel and deregulated energy industries. Eric helps consumers by demystifying solar, battery, renewable energy, energy choice concepts, and also reviews solar installers. Previously, Eric covered space, science, climate change and all things futuristic. His encrypted email for tips is ericcmack@protonmail.com.
Eric Mack
perseid-julien
1 of 14 Robert Julien

The Milky Way outshines tonight

The 2020 Perseid meteor shower peaked the evening of Aug. 11 into the morning of Aug. 12, but it will be active until Aug. 24 and continues to send astrophotographers out into the night to see what they can capture, often with remarkable results. 

This lively shot was captured from Quebec. A lone Perseid plays sidekick to the vibrant Milky Way. 

perseid-superdavebrem
2 of 14 Dave Bremner

Empty and crowded at once

Canadian photographer Dave Bremner caught this moody image of at least three meteors, the Milky Way, a low-flying aircraft and a communications tower. 

perseid-bill
3 of 14 Bill Dennis

Perseid double trouble

This image is a composite of two photos by photographer Bill Dennis from a time lapse sequence above Bedforshire, UK that caught a bright Perseid.

perseid-neighbor
4 of 14 Jon Bretan

Blue skies at night

Photographer Jon Bretan caught a meteor amid an eerie glow. 

perseid-brown
5 of 14 Steve Brown

Windmills and star trails

Steve Brown grabbed this magnificent time-lapse of star trails during the Perseid meteor shower.

perseid-taylor
6 of 14 Harry Taylor

Collecting Perseids

Photographer Harry Taylor created this composite of several Perseid meteor images from north Cave Creek, AZ.

perseid-lee
7 of 14 Tom Lee

Streaks over Sussex

UK photographer Tom Lee captured over 1,000 images in one night chasing a great Perseid pic. This turned out to be the best.

perseid-peterstuff
8 of 14 Peterstuff/Flickr

Perseids and Starlink, too

Peter Humphreys, a photographer based in Cambridge in the UK, grabbed this twilight image of a few meteors. If you look hard enough, you may also be able to spot a few SpaceX Starlink satellite trails, a new feature in many Perseid photos this year. 

perseid-eliot
9 of 14 Eliot Herman

Wake up!

Eliot Herman snagged this shot of a pre-dawn Perseid dashing behind the foothills near Tucson, Arizona. 

perseid-betzner
10 of 14 Jason Betzner

Flaming out fantastically

Virginia-based photographer Jason Betzner was lucky enough to capture what looks like a bright Perseid fireball on the shower's peak night. 

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11 of 14 Spaceweather.com/Juris Seņņikovs

A view of it all from Latvia

This image from Latvia features a few Perseids, the Milky Way, Jupiter and Saturn all in the frame.  

malcolm-park-perseid-1597123546
12 of 14 Spaceweather.com/Malcolm Park

Hot above and below

This Perseid fireball was seen over a lake in Ontario around dusk.

"It was hot and muggy even after the sun went down, with lots of haze on the horizon but this Perseid was so bright it didn't matter," photographer Malcolm Park said.

samer-hariri-startrails-aug-11-2020-2-1597238960
13 of 14 Spaceweather.com/Samer Hariri

So many stars, man...

Meteor shower season brings famous time-lapse shots of star trails crossed by streaking meteors. This one from Michigan is about as trippy as they come, captured over a two-hour period above Lake Huron. 

"Mars is in the lower right with reflection on Lake Huron," explains photographer Samer Hariri. 
"A red moon is rising on the horizon of the lake. There is a smeared Milky Way, Capella rising as well with its reflection in the lake, cars driving south and the lights from cities on the Canadian side of things." 

perseid-sheldon
14 of 14 Sheldon Emberly

Across the universe

Another Perseid traverses the Milky Way, this time seen by photographer Sheldon Emberly.

If you have a Perseid shot you're particularly proud of, please share with me on Twitter @EricCMack

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