CABO ROJO, Puerto Rico – A photographer waiting to see the ongoing Perseid meteor shower was caught by surprise when a stray fireball came zooming across the night sky.
Puerto Rico researcher and photographer Frankie Lucena said he was hoping to spot some Perseids over Cabo Rojo in the pre-dawn hours Monday when a bright fireball shot across his field of view.
The Perseid meteor shower is underway, and the peak happens from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
“This fireball appeared while I was trying to record Perseid meteors,” Lucena told Storyful. Because the fireball’s trajectory was not the same as the Perseid meteor shower, Lucena said, “it is considered a stray.”
A fireball over Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico on Aug. 11, 2025.
This dependable meteor shower comes from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and produces about 25 meteors per hour. Under dark skies, between 50 and 100 meteors per hour are visible, according to NASA.
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However, a dark sky is key, and if the Moon is full it’s extremely hard to spot these meteors. This year, the Perseids’ most active nights happen less than a week after the full Moon, likely washing out the best meteor shower of the summer, with only the brightest meteors visible.
FILE PHOTO: This image composite from July 30, 2014, shows 14 bright meteors seen from Huntsville, Alabama, and includes Southern Delta Aquariids, Alpha Capricornids and the Perseids.
(NASA/MSFC/MEO / NASA)
If you’re hoping to spot the Perseids, in spite of the Moon, move away from city lights and find a good dark sky location.
The Perseid meteor shower continues through Aug. 24.
