Earth and Space Special Mention: Perseid Burst

A magnificent cosmic burst of meteors is captured in this composite image from south-central Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest in August 2012, during the peak of the Perseid shower.

Astrophotographer David Kingham managed to capture nature's best fireworks show by collecting 23 individual 30-second-long exposures, all of them taken over the seven hours of a single night session.