Perseid Meteor Shower Thrills Stargazers Despite Bright Moon

 Intrepid photographers in dark parts of the world managed to capture some stunning photos of the Perseid meteor shower as it hit its peak, despite the bright light of a nearly full moon.

The Perseids peaked Tuesday night (Aug. 12) and into the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Though the bright moon probably did interfere with some observers' view of the shower, NASA cameras still caught sight of brilliant meteors streaking through the sky. The shower hit its peak rate over the eastern United States at about 3 a.m. EDT, according to NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office leader Bill Cooke.

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"Despite the Supermoon [which rose on Aug. 10], our camera network here in the [southeast] recorded over 100 Perseids brighter than Mars last night," Cooke told Space.com via email. A NASA camera at the Tellus Science Museum in Georgia captured two Perseid meteors streaking through the sky at the same time, Cooke added. [See more photos of the 2014 Perseid meteor shower.

Competing with the brilliant moon tonight will be the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Generally the Northern Hemisphere's biggest meteor shower of the year, the Perseids will peak early Wednesday morning in the Bay Area. Up to 40 meteors an hour are projected by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

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Though the name refers to the constellation Perseus, the meteors can be seen in all areas of the sky.

Moonlight will decrease the visibility of this year's display. The moon, just past full, will rise about 9:20 p.m. in the Bay Area and won't set until past daylight Wednesday. The night sky, however, is expected to be relatively clear of clouds.

NASA's online events include a live video stream of the skies over Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center starting at 6:30 p.m. PDT and a live web chat starting at 8 p.m.

As the darkness set in last night, star gazers throughout the world looked up at the sky in the hopes of catching a glimpse the spectacular Perseid meteor shower.Despite patches of cloud cover and a bright supermoon, the shower provided some stunning views as it lit up the skies with streaks of up to 100 shooting stars per hour.The annual shower occurs every August and is caused by debris from the huge Swift-Tuttle comet falling into the Earth's atmosphere.