"I saw lots of green and yellow meteors," says O'Brian. Why the colors? Yellow can be a sign of sodium-rich meteoroids; hot sodium vapors glow yellow like a sodium discharge lamp. Green may be due to oxygen--not in the meteoroid but in Earth's atmosphere. When a meteoroid rips through the atmosphere, air in its path becomes so hot that oxygen molecules briefly lose one of their electrons. They recombine (e^- + O₂⁺) very rapidly, emitting green photons as a side-effect. A similar process is responsible for the green colors of many auroras.

Photo details: Canon 1Ds, 50mm, f1.8, 8 sec, ISO 1000

This brilliant Perseid meteor made two bright flashes before ending with a terminal burst of magnitude -5 against the stars of Capricornus.

Photo details: Fuji Finepix S2 digital camera with a 35 mm wide angle lens at f3.3 and ISO400, 4-minute guided exposure beginning at 10:51 PM MDT.

Noctilucent clouds and, best of all, a meteor!

Photo details: Canon 20D, 35 mm, 5s exposure at 200 ASA

While trying to capture a picture of the summer triangle created by the crescent moon, Mars, and the Pleiades star cluster at 4:30 this morning, I captured a Perseid meteor sailing through the Earth's atmosphere. It was extremely humid (around 80%) and hot (around 80ºF) therfore the moon did not come out good.

Photo details: Canon Powershot S3 IS digital camera set on a tripod, ISO at 800, 15s exposure.

I was photographing the beautiful and bright Big Dipper ("La Grande Ourse" or Big Bear in French), when Perseid Meteors started streaking through the inky sky, first to my left, then suddenly to my right! I counted six within 15 minutes just after 2250 EDT. Not sure where to aim my camera next, I continued with my tests shots in preparation for the Sunday Perseid show. I jumped with joy, when one image revealed this stunning slash across the heavens, my very first capture of a Perseid! Now if only I could master noise reduction, to make this image even better!

Photo details: Nikon D200, Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0 lens at 19mm; ISO-400asa. Exposure 61sec @ f4, white balance sunny-5400K, taken at 2322hrs EDT

Even though there was no astronomical darkness, the moon was shining, and it was still a week before maximum, I saw several Perseid meteors (8 during two hours). I even captured one in the Milky way above the heavy lightpollution from Stockholm. The Perseids are coming!

Photo details: Sigma objective 20mm f/5.6, expo: 40min, Canon Digital Rebel XT, ISO 400, piggyback on a CG5 mount.

The perseid's are definately building. This is from early Tuesday morning and shows a nice perseid meteor and a lightning bug trail.

Photo details: Canon Digital Rebel XT, ISO800, 25sec, F3.5

I was taking a 6 minute exposure of the "Summer Triangle" when I noticed a very bright flash in the vicinity of where my camera was pointing, and just caught the tail end of a very bright perseid meteor!

Photo details: Canon Digital Rebel XT at 4 minute exposure with 28 mm lens at ASA 1600