Look: Perseid meteor shower lights up UAE skies

The Perseid meteor shower, a yearly spectacle that delights stargazers in the UAE and around the world, has once again illuminated the night sky.

This year, the Perseid meteor shower reached its peak between Saturday night and Sunday morning, and skywatchers were dazzled by a spectacular display of shooting stars.

On Saturday night, UAE residents gathered in the Al Awir Desert in Dubai to watch the annual Perseid meteor shower, organized by the Dubai Astronomy Group.

Known as the best meteor show, according to NASA, the Perseids show up in August when a debris field left by Comet Swift-Tuttle in 1992 barreled past Earth. Tiny particulates, the size of a grit, heat up as they are met by friction from Earth's atmosphere and then begin to light up.

Meteor showers occur when Earth encounters a particularly dense pocket of debris, usually left in the wake of a since-departed comet or asteroid. [In pic: Stargazers gathered at Awir Desert in Dubai]

Perseids are known for sometimes creating spectacular fireballs, meteors brighter than Venus, which produce explosive streaks of light that are longer, brighter and more persistent, according to the American Meteor Society. [In pic: People watch as meteor streaks in the night sky at Awir Desert in Dubai]

The event, organised by the Dubai Astronomy Group, attracted a large number of stargazers who gathered to witness the annual Perseid meteor shower at Awir Desert in Dubai.

The Perseids are named for the constellation Perseus - the constellation the meteors appear to come from - but Perseus isn't the source of the meteors. It simply serves as a directional cue. [In pic: People watch as meteor streaks in the night sky at Awir Desert in Dubai]

Here are some more pictures of the Perseid meteor shower from across the world: A long exposure shows star trails behind the Lopez Mountain during the annual Perseid meteor shower period near the town of Bariloche, at the Patagonia Region, Argentina.

A meteor streaks in the night sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower on the island of Lastovo, Croatia August 12, 2023.

A man uses laser light towards the sky during annual Perseid meteor shower at Shebenik National Park, in Fushe Stude, Albania, August 13, 2023.

People watch as meteor streaks in the night sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower in the Siberian town of Yeniseysk in the Krasnoyarsk Region, Russia August 12, 2023.