Looking down on the Perseid meteor shower from space

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION / Ron Garan, ISS Expedition 28 Crew, NASA

PerseidFromAbove[People on] planet Earth typically watch meteor showers by looking up. But this remarkable view, captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down.

From Garan’s perspective onboard the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak below. …

In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is … [just] below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below bright star Arcturus.

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