Perseid 2013: Meteor Shower Lights Up the Night Sky

Get ready for the Perseids meteor shower as the earth crosses the tale of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Usually from August 11 to 13 (and peaking on the 12), it's one of the best meteor shows of the year.

At left, hundreds of astronomy lovers enjoy the meteor shower early on August 12 at the aboriginal town of Atalayita in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Carlos De Saa/EPA, via Landov

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A shooting star illuminates the night sky near Sieversdorf, Germany.

Patrick Pleul/EPA, via Landov

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A shooting star of the Perseids meteor shower burns up in the atmosphere in this photo taken near Salgotarjan, some 100 kilometers northeast of Budapest.

Peter Komka/EPA, via Landov

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In this long exposure photo, a streak appears in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes.

Paul White/AP

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In this photo taken with long shutter speed, a meteor sparks, lower right, while entering Earth's atmosphere, behind an olive tree during the Perseids meteor shower, in Fanos village, central Greece.

Petros Giannakouris/AP