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. 2025 August 12 [2]A starfield is shown above a grassy field with hills on the horizon. The band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches across toward the right. Many streaks appear emanating out from a place on the Milky Way just above the horizon. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Perseids from Perseus Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Marcin Rosadziński Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the [4]constellation of Perseus. That is why the meteor shower that peaks tonight is known as the [5]Perseids -- the [6]meteors all appear to come from a [7]radiant toward Perseus. In terms of parent body, though, the [8]sand-sized debris that makes up the [9]Perseids meteors come from [10]Comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet follows a [11]well-defined orbit around our Sun, and the part of the orbit that [12]approaches Earth is superposed in front of Perseus. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the [13]radiant point of falling debris appears in Perseus. [14]Featured here, a composite image taken over six nights and containing over 100 meteors from 2024 August [15]Perseids meteor shower shows many [16]bright meteors that [17]streaked over the [18]Bieszczady Mountains in [19]Poland. This year's [20]Perseids, usually one of the [21]best meteor showers of the year, will compete with a bright moon that [22]will rise, for many locations, soon [23]after sunset. Tomorrow's picture: [24]orion's stellar heart __________________________________________________________________ [25]< | [26]Archive | [27]Submissions | [28]Index | [29]Search | [30]Calendar | [31]RSS | [32]Education | [33]About APOD | [34]Discuss | [35]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell ([39]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [40]Specific rights apply. [41]NASA Web Privacy, [42]Accessibility, [43]Notices; A service of: [44]ASD at [45]NASA / [46]GSFC, [47]NASA Science Activation & [48]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/PerseidsRadiant_Marcin_5500.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/krakow_astrophotography/ 4. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/const.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150813.html 6. https://youtu.be/CwrvN0Q9_Sg 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070812.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteor 9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/perseids/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960219.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180808.html 12. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vzf3tW7n2VM/T5C-PyI7DII/AAAAAAAACZY/UCr8FgmMQxE/s400/bigstock-Dog-with-globe-Our-world-is-i-25891268.JPG 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_(meteor_shower) 14. https://www.instagram.com/p/DD41fPcImzU/ 15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090302.html 18. https://youtu.be/VVaaHclx3R8 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland 20. https://www.planetary.org/articles/your-guide-meteor-shower 21. https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/2017-meteor-shower-list/ 22. https://youtu.be/7Hch_mP7IqM 23. https://www.timeanddate.com/news/astronomy/perseid-meteor-shower-2025 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250813.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250811.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 31. https://apod.com/feed.rss 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250812 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250813.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 42. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 44. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 47. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 48. http://www.mtu.edu/