Perseid Meteor Shower 

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos 9 photos

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Jason Hullinger went to Joshua Tree National Park last December to catch the Geminid meteor shower. He set up his tripod to take 20-second exposures from about 11 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. Friday. He took about 500 photos and combined them with StarStaX, an image stacking and blending software for star trail photography.

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Gokhan Saymaz is a part-time professional photographer. He created this dazzling image of star trails above Esentepe, in Cyprus. Saymaz used a long exposure technique, shooting 111 frames with a shutter speed of 30 seconds for each frame, before combining them using star trails software.

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – An avid astrophotographer, iReporter Carlos Soares took this photo near the Portuguese city of Braga. "This is widefield astrophotography with many targets, taken with a DSLR camera and a lens. We can see several constellations including Cygnus, the Lyra and the Eagle."

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – This breathtaking moonrise over the Sahara was taken by Slovenia-based photographer Iztok Medja, while in Morocco. In a former job as a nautical skipper, he would spend many night shifts gazing longingly at the sky. He says that it was while he was away from the light pollution of the city that his passion for night photography emerged.

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Along with several other camera club members, iReporter Allan Qua Borebor made his way to one of the piers in Caramoan, in the Philippines, at around 11 p.m on June 30th. "The place was so quiet, so serene and so dark ... We were so lucky because a thousand stars showed up," Borebor recalls. "It was a perfect night together with friends."

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Sarah Thornington is a Massachusetts-based iReporter who fell in love with the vast expanse above from a young age. On June 27, she picked up her camera and headed to the local drive-in. The night had all the conditions for a perfect shoot and Thornington watched as a couple of shooting stars (seen at the top of the image) blazed across the sky. She is already thinking about her summer stargazing bucket list -- to get "that beautiful shot of the Milky Way as it rises over the ocean."

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Greg Hogan may only have been aiming his camera at the sky for the last six months but the astrophotography bug has bitten him pretty hard. "I bought a telescope for $25 at a yard sale and the first time I saw Saturn\'s rings, I was completely hooked," he says. "There\'s just so much out there that people don\'t realize that you can see without the equipment being expensive if you just slow down a minute and take a peek."

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – Stephen Gill who loves "science, space and all things tech-y," captured this photo while vacationing in Grand Cayman with his wife on August 13 last year. "I\'ve been out three nights in a row trying to capture a Perseid (meteor shower) since the conditions here are amazing, and finally got lucky," he said.

Among the stars: Your shots of the cosmos – An enthusiastic stargazer, 39-year-old Lewis de Mesa wasn\'t going to miss an opportunity to snap the Camelopardalids meteor shower in May this year. Standing atop the highest peak in the United Arab Emirates, de Mesa snapped this impressive shot but wasn\'t thrilled by the result. "Not so much luck here in the United Arab Emirates," he said. "It wasn\'t that great ... Good thing I got some Milky Way goodness."

The Perseid meteor shower peaks from August 12 to 13

This meteor shower considered one of the brightest showings in the summer months

Will you be watching the Perseid meteor shower? Share your photo with CNN iReport.

A moonless evening could give stargazers a fantastic light show this week.

The annual Perseid meteor shower, which is known for being among the brightest of meteor showers, is happening near the tail end of summer.

The major meteor shower will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

"If you see one meteor shower this year, make it August\'s Perseids or December\'s Geminids," NASA says. "The Perseids feature fast and bright meteors that frequently leave trains, and in 2015 there will be no moonlight to upstage the shower."

The best part about the showing is that it will happen a day before the new moon, meaning the night skies will be dark and perfect for meteor spotting. Under clear and dark skies, observers could expect to see up to 100 shooting stars an hour.

Astronomy experts say that those conditions have not been available since 2010.

Stargazers, campers or simply astronomy lovers will not need any additional equipment like a telescope to see the meteor shower. These fiery streaks of light should be visible to the naked eye that evening. But going to a rural area, away from urban spaces that are filled with light pollution, will increase the chances of seeing the Perseid meteor shower.

Perfect conditions for summer\'s major meteor shower

Staying up past midnight might also help viewers spot meteors. Some of the strongest showings happening in the predawn hours.

The Perseids are active from July 13 to August 26, according to the American Meteor Society, a nonprofit scientific organization that supports the research of astronomers, but the meteor shower peaks between August 12-13.

The meteor shower is composed of particles released from Comet 109/Swift-Tuttle during its many trips to the inner solar system, a region comprising terrestrial planets and asteroids.

The Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus because that is where the meteors seem to originate from when looking up at the sky.

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