In the early hours of last Tuesday (13), during the Perseid meteor shower, a camera in the Lake Ohrid area in Macedonia captured images of a fireball crossing the sky. The video shows, within seconds, the meteor falling.
The Perseids are one of the largest meteor showers of the year, and can be seen every year from mid-July to the end of August. In 2024, for example, it peaked around the evening of August 11 and the morning of August 12.
These meteors are caused by the Earth passing through ice and rocky debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The star last passed close to Earth in 1992. So, when it reaches Earth’s atmosphere, it burns up and forms what are called “shooting stars.”
Typically, most meteors are about the size of grains of sand. However, some larger pieces can create “fireballs” in the sky, such as the one seen in Macedonia.
Fireball in the middle of the Perseids
Photographer Stojan Stojanovski started setting up the camera network in 2018 with the help of local businesses. He took the initiative in order to promote tourism in the region. Space.com websiteHe said he hopes installing 180-degree cameras will give him and the local Ohrid Astronomy Society a better view of the night sky.
“I hope the 180-degree cameras will be able to capture more meteors in the future,” he said, noting that there are some forest fires in the area and that “it’s hard to find good spots in the mountains.”
At the beginning of its peak, on the 11th of this month, photographer Stojan Stojanovski also managed to photograph the Perseid meteor above the lake, with The glow of forest fires is visible in the distance.Watch the video of the fireball crossing the sky:
