![\"Image](\"http:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-XATohUB6ysc\/Tkv4uovZtXI\/AAAAAAAAE6M\/8DE69CJFk6Q\/s590\/2011-08-17_111921.jpg\" "\\"Image")
From NASA:<\/strong><\/p>\n Many people have spent time outdoors under a dark sky, watching for \u201cshooting stars\u201d to streak across the firmament. In some cultures, this event is an occasion to make a wish; in others it is viewed as a herald of important events, such as the birth of a future ruler. While not actual stars, \u201cshooting stars\u201d do come from outer space, in the form of meteoroids entering the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n Meteoroids are small objects moving through the solar system that are attracted to the Earth by its gravitational pull. These small objects\u2014typically fragments of asteroids or comets, though they can also originate from the Moon or Mars\u2014begin to heat and burn up as they collide with air molecules in Earth\u2019s atmosphere, creating a bright vapor trail or streak. At this point, the object is known as a meteor. If any remnant of the object survives to impact the Earth\u2019s surface, it becomes known as a meteorite. While most meteorites are natural in origin, on occasion manmade space debris can reenter the atmosphere and also become a meteor or even a meteorite!<\/p>\n This astronaut photograph, taken from the International Space Station while over China (approximately 400 kilometers to the northwest of Beijing), provides the unusual perspective of looking down on a meteor as it passes through the atmosphere. The image was taken on August 13, 2011, during the Perseid Meteor Shower that\u00a0occurs every August.<\/a> The\u00a0Perseid meteors<\/a> are particles that originate from Comet Swift-Tuttle; the comet\u2019s orbit is close enough for these particles to be swept up by the Earth\u2019s gravitational field every year\u2014leading to one of the most dependable\u00a0meteor shower<\/a> displays.<\/p>\n Green and yellow\u00a0airglow<\/a> appears in thin layers above the limb of the Earth, extending from image left to the upper right. Atoms and molecules above 50 kilometers in the atmosphere are excited by sunlight during the day, and then release this energy at night, producing primarily green light that is observable from orbit. Part of a space station solar panel is visible at image upper right; behind the panel, a bright region indicates the Sun low on the horizon.<\/p>\n Astronaut photograph\u00a0ISS028-E-24847<\/a> was acquired on August 13, 2011, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 22 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the\u00a0Expedition 28 crew.<\/a> The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The\u00a0International Space Station Program<\/a> supports the laboratory as part of the\u00a0ISS National Lab<\/a> to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA\/JSC\u00a0Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.<\/a> Caption by William L. Stefanov, Jacobs\/ESCG at NASA-JSC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once a year the nighttime sky is lit up with fragments of Comet Swift-Tuttle.\u00a0 The Perseid meteor shower peaked last week and while a bright full moon limited viewing on Earth, astronauts on the International Space Station captured stunning imagery of the event. Every 133 years Comet Swift-Tuttle makes a pass through the inner solar … Continue reading As seen from space: Space station astronauts capture image of Perseid meteor shower<\/span>