Perseid in Moonlight . ... Taken on August 12, near the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower the exposure also captures a bright and colorful perseid streak above the shady tree in the foreground. ... Swept up as planet Earth orbits through dust left behind from periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, the cosmic grains that produce perseid meteors enter the atmosphere at nearly 60 kilometers per second , heated to incandesence and vaporized at altitudes of about 100 kilometers. ... NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...