Perseids meteor shower lights up night skies

Shooting stars from the annual Perseids meteor shower have been lighting up night skies across the UK and around the world over the past few nights. The bright meteors are formed when dust particles fall from the Swift-Tuttle comet and burn up on entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Astronomers at Astro Dog, a small Scarborough-based astronomy company, captured the event from North York Moors National Park at its peak on 13 August. To maximise their chances of filming the glittering show, they used a camera with a “very sensitive sensor and a large aperture” which was pointed 45 degrees away from the “radiant point” – “where meteors appear to radiate from”. There’s still a chance to catch a glimpse or a video of the Perseids as they will be active until 24 August, according to Astro Dog.