Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2025 August 16
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        A Cool GIF of a 2025 Perseid
           Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Renaud & Olivier Coppe

   Explanation: The camera battery died about 2am local time on August 12,
   [5]while shooting in the bright [6]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
   [7]persistent train. The Perseid meteor, a fast moving speck of dust
   from the tail of large periodic [8]Comet Swift-Tuttle, was heated to
   incandescence by [9]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.

                      Tomorrow's picture: cloudy skies
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    Authors & editors: [21]Robert Nemiroff ([22]MTU) & [23]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([24]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply.
            [26]NASA Web Privacy, [27]Accessibility, [28]Notices;
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC,
                         [32]NASA Science Activation
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/perseid2025-cropped.gif
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://app.astrobin.com/u/ren1450#gallery
   5. https://app.astrobin.com/u/ren1450?i=5p34ay#gallery
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/watch-the-skies/2025/08/08/bright-moonlight-could-interfere-with-view-of-perseids-peak/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180817.html
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/109p-swift-tuttle/
   9. https://www.space.com/3113-meteors-meteor-showers-science.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250815.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  14. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  16. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  19. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250816
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250817.html
  21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  24. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/