Get ready for one of the most dazzling celestial displays of the year—the Perseid meteor shower. Active from mid-July through late August, it reaches its spectacular peak on the night of August 12 into the early hours of August 13 this year. 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:
-
Lake Misurina, Dolomites, Italy
-
When life imitates art
-
Rethymno, Crete, Greece
-
Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon
-
Splügen Pass, Switzerland
-
Ardez village, Graubunden, Switzerland
-
Milky Way over Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park
-
World Water Day
-
Who uses this grassy bridge?
-
International Day of Human Space Flight
-
Happy Cousins Day!
-
Cuban tody, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba
-
Taughannock Falls State Park, New York
-
World Teachers Day
-
Happy International Day of Forests!
-
Wooden path to Kennedy Lake, Vancouver Island
-
World Sea Turtle Day
-
The envy of postcards and snow globes
-
World Bee Day
-
Mount Fuji Day
-
A duckling swimming in a water meadow, Suffolk, England
-
Monoliths of the Mingan Archipelago, Quebec
-
South Stack Lighthouse, Holyhead, Wales, UK
-
Grizzly bear and cub
-
Poinsettia Day
-
Crescent-tail bigeye fish, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
-
Regal Radiance
-
The butterfly effect
-
Oktoberfest begins!
-
Stunning symmetry
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

