Pictured: Shooting stars stun stargazers during Perseid meteor shower

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Pictured: Shooting stars stun stargazers during Perseid meteor shower
Telegraph reporters
The Telegraph
Wed, August 13, 2025 at 4:39 AM EDT
4 min read



Clearer skies are expected in the south later in the week, making the shower more visible - Anadolu


Stargazers have seen shooting stars across the UK during the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Every summer, the Earth hits a trail of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet that also orbits the Sun. Around 100 meteors could be seen per hour in certain flat and dark locations across the UK.

The meteor shower has been running for a few weeks and will continue until around Aug 24.

Dr Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, said the debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet can be as small as a grain of dust or rice. The debris can flare up under the pressure of the planet’s atmosphere, creating shooting stars.

Clearer skies are expected in the south later in the week, giving stargazers a better chance to see the display.

The astronomer said this means that “we have lots of chances to see this” but “you have to let your eyes adjust to the dark”.



A combination of images of Perseid meteor shower over Stonehenge from Aug 9 - Josh Dury/SWNS


He recommended stargazers wait half an hour to let their eyes get used to the dark, adding: “You want to get away from city lights, you want to get away from street lamps.

“If you’re looking out from your garden – it sounds obvious – but switch the kitchen light off, give yourself time to just put the phone away.”

People struggling to see the meteors can turn to the side and watch through their peripheral vision as it is “a little bit better with low-light conditions”, Dr Bloomer said.

As it is summer, viewers will also have to wait until relatively late at night for it to be dark enough to see the celestial show.

The astronomer added: “For us, it’s kind of one of the best [meteor showers], it’s kind of reliable, it’s long-lived, it’s quite dense ... it’s pretty active.

“You don’t need to really be in a very specific location, the hourly rate is fairly high, so I think even beginners will be, I think, satisfied having seen them.”



Viewers will also have to wait until relatively late at night for it to be dark enough to see the celestial show - Amel Emric/Reuters


The weather is largely clear but early in the week the almost-full waning moon could make Perseid less visible.

The meteor shower will be in the north-east as the sun is going down, Dr Bloomer added.

He said: “However, it’s not available to everybody, because the further south you go ... Perseid is lower and lower on the horizon.

“The primary interest is for Northern Hemisphere observers – Perseid is pretty low for us here in the UK, but it is above the horizon ... in fact, it’s above the horizon all day, but the problem is, of course, during the day, nothing’s going to be visible.”

He added that despite the shower being more visible in the north, “the dominant thing is going to be, can you get yourself in a dark location”.



The meteor shower will be visible in the north-east as the sun is going down - Anadolu


Dr Bloomer continued: “Getting into the middle of a field in the south-east of England, in London, is going to be better than being in the middle of Aberdeen.”

Shooting stars generally only last a second or two and sometimes appear in flurries, the astronomer said.

Rarer meteors the size of a fist or a basketball will produce longer tails and are known as fireballs, he added.

These can last five to 10 seconds, but Dr Bloomer said he has only ever seen one.



Shooting stars generally only last a second or two and sometimes appear in flurries, Dr Ed Bloomer said - Anadolu


Dan Suri, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, said there was an increased risk of thunderstorms in parts of England on Wednesday evening.

He said: “By the evening, there is an increased risk of thunderstorms across northern areas, with the potential for some fairly wet weather.

“Whilst the exact location for these unsettled conditions remains uncertain, it’s possible a warning may be issued closer to the time.”


https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pictured-shooting-stars-stun-stargazers-083924421.html