The first night of maximum here in Europe turned out pretty good, with solid activity, although with very little bright meteors and fireballs. I was imaging all night with my friend, we had 4 DSLRs, so the sky was nicely covered. Location was very good, we could see the zodiacal band, and LM was around 7 for a good observer.

Here is a fairly impressive meteor showing a typical colorful Perseid passing close by the Andromeda galaxy (M31). In the wide field shot you can see the Perseid, M31, the constellation of Cassiopeia, and the Double Cluster in Perseus.

Photo details: Canon 400D, 30 secs, f/3.5, ISO 1600, Taken at 00:14 BST (01:14 UT)

There were just a few Perseids before midnight. The contitions were perfect with excellent transparency. I took this photo about a bright meteor in Cassiopeia over the castle of Csesznek. The ruins are illuminated by the moonlight.

Photo details: Canon 450D with 18-55 objective at 18 mm, f/5, iso 1600, 30 sec exposure

On August 11th in New Mexico, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft caught an early Perseid streaking over his radio observatory. "One of them had a dynamic and rippingly intricate sonic radio signature." Click to listen. The sounds you just heard are distant radio stations reflected from the the meteor's ionized trail. Try listening with headphones: 61 MHz echoes are in the left stereo channel, 83 MHz echoes in the right. "It has a very energetic sound," says Ashcraft.

Once the moon had set there were lots of faint Perseids and several bright ones in the dark skies above Grand Valley, Colorado. A few good meteors made it into the camera frame and, later, to Spaceweather.com.

Photo details: Canon 30D, ISO1600, 20mm lens, 30-sec exposures.