Watch 2025 Perseid Meteor Vaporize in Earth's Atmosphere

Watch 2025 Perseid Meteor Vaporize in Earth's Atmosphere

"The camera battery died about 2am local time on August 12, while shooting in the bright 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 persistent train. The Perseid meteor, a fast moving speck of dust from the tail of large periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle, was heated to incandescence by 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."

The Perseids meteor shower peaks in mid-August, and is the most popular meteor shower of the year.

Perseids: Fast Facts

Comet of Origin: 109P/Swift-Tuttle

Radiant Constellation: Perseus

Active: July 17 to Aug. 23, 2025 (Peak night: Aug. 12-13)

Observed Under Dark Skies: About 25 meteors per hour

Meteor Velocity: 37 miles (59 km) per second

Image Credit & Copyright: Renaud & Olivier Coppe
Website: https://app.astrobin.com/u/ren1450#gallery
Release Date: Aug. 16, 2025

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