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 16 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Cool GIF of a 2025 Perseid Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Renaud & Olivier Coppe Explanation: The camera battery died about 2am local time on August 12, [5]while shooting in the bright [6]moonlit skies from a garden in Chastre, Brabant Wallon, Belgium, planet Earth. But not before it captured the frames used to compose this cool animated gif of a brilliant Perseid meteor and a lingering visible trail known as a [7]persistent train. The Perseid meteor, a fast moving speck of dust from the tail of large periodic [8]Comet Swift-Tuttle, was heated to incandescence by [9]ram pressure and vaporized as it flashed through the upper atmosphere at 60 kilometers per second. Compared to the brief flash of the meteor, its wraith-like trail really is persistent. A characteristic of bright meteors, a smoke-like persistent train can often be followed for many minutes wafting in the winds at altitudes of 60 to 90 kilometers. Tomorrow's picture: cloudy skies __________________________________________________________________ [10]< | [11]Archive | [12]Submissions | [13]Index | [14]Search | [15]Calendar | [16]RSS | [17]Education | [18]About APOD | [19]Discuss | [20]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [21]Robert Nemiroff ([22]MTU) & [23]Jerry Bonnell ([24]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply. [26]NASA Web Privacy, [27]Accessibility, [28]Notices; A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/perseid2025-cropped.gif 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://app.astrobin.com/u/ren1450#gallery 5. https://app.astrobin.com/u/ren1450?i=5p34ay#gallery 6. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/watch-the-skies/2025/08/08/bright-moonlight-could-interfere-with-view-of-perseids-peak/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180817.html 8. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/109p-swift-tuttle/ 9. https://www.space.com/3113-meteors-meteor-showers-science.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250815.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 14. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 16. https://apod.com/feed.rss 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 19. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250816 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250817.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 24. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 27. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/