Perseids and MAGIC

APOD: 2022 August 11 - Perseids and MAGIC. Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Explanation: On August 11, 2021 a multi-mirror, 17 meter-diameter MAGIC telescope reflected this starry night sky from the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma.

The telescopes can see the brief flashes of optical light produced in particle air showers as high-energy gamma rays impact the Earth's upper atmosphere.

To the dark-adapted eye the mirror segments offer a tantalizing reflection of stars and nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy.

Directly behind the segmented mirror telescope, low on the horizon, lies the constellation Perseus.

On that date the dramatic composite nightscape also captured meteors streaming from the radiant of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

This year the Perseid shower activity will again peak around August 13 but perseid meteors will have to compete with the bright light of a Full Moon.