Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 August 9 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Perseid Below Image Credit: Ron Garan, [3]ISS Expedition 28 Crew, [4]NASA Explanation: Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers [5]by looking up. But this [6]remarkable view, captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down. From Garan's perspective on board the [7]International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak below, swept up dust from [8]comet Swift-Tuttle. The [9]vaporizing comet dust grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers per second through the denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is near frame center, below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below bright star [10]Arcturus. Want to look up at a meteor shower? [11]You're in luck, as the 2024 Perseid meteor shower is active now and predicted to peak near August 12. With interfering bright moonlight absent, this year you'll likely see many Perseid meteors under clear, dark skies after midnight. Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy, [29]Accessibility Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC, [33]NASA Science Activation & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/perseid_iss_4256.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition28/index.html 4. https://www.nasa.gov/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190815.html 6. https://images.nasa.gov/details/iss028e024847 7. https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240808.html 9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/perseids/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090704.hml 11. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240808.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240809 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240810.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 34. http://www.mtu.edu/