Earthsky.org, 8/3/13
Green lines illustrate the paths of Perseid meteoroids, traveling in space. All six intersect Earth (the blue dot). The orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle is the purple line. An inset shows one of the fireballs shining almost as brightly as the moon.
What are Perseid fireballs? New research by NASA scientists has revealed them. Using a network of meteor cameras distributed across the southern USA, Cooke’s team has been tracking fireball activity since 2008, and they have built up a database of hundreds of events to analyze. The data point to the Perseids as the ‘fireball champion’ of annual meteor showers.
