APOD: 2026 August 18 – Perseids from Perseus

NASA Science reports that twenty twenty-six was an excellent year for the Perseids meteor shower, thanks largely to an unusually dark night sky. The Moon passed directly between Earth and the Sun near the shower's peak, creating a total solar eclipse visible from Greenland and Spain — which meant clearer skies for viewing. The Perseids occur when Earth passes through debris cast off by Comet Swift-Tuttle — fragments tiny as sand grains that appear bright and fast because they're traveling partly opposite Earth's orbital direction. Observations from the Czech Republic captured these meteors' trails all converging on the constellation Perseus, the shower's radiant point.

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