Perseid Meteors over Slovakia

Tonight is a good night to see meteors. Comet dust will rain down on planet Earth, streaking through dark skies during the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower . The featured composite image was taken during last year's Perseids from the Poloniny Dark Sky Park in Slovakia . The unusual building in the foreground is a planetarium on the grounds of Kolonica Observatory . Although the comet dust particles travel parallel to each other, the resulting shower meteors clearly seem to radiate from a single point on the sky in the eponymous constellation Perseus. The radiant effect is due to perspective , as the parallel tracks appear to converge at a distance, like train tracks . The Perseid Meteor Shower is expected to peak after midnight tonight, although unfortunately this year the sky will be brightened by a near full Moon.