Video: ESA's meteor camera captures the Perseid showers

The Perseids meteor shower is one of the most spectacular annual meteor showers. Made of debris from comet Swift-Tuttle they have been observed by sky-watchers for thousands of years and this year the LIC1 camera of the Canary Long-Baseline Observatory (CILBO) at Tenerife captured the peak of the 2020 Perseid meteor shower detecting dozens of meteors in a single night.

The Perseids are among the brightest meteor showers and probably the most popular among amateur observers in the Northern Hemisphere since they can be easily observed thanks to usually favourable weather conditions. In fact, observations of Perseids go back to at least 69 BCE.

The Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus as they appear to be coming from the direction of this constellation.