A Perseid Aurora

Explanation: Just after the Moon set but before the Sun rose in the early morning hours of 2000 August 12, meteors pelted the Earth from the direction of the constellation Perseus , while ions pelted the Earth from the Sun . The meteors were expected as sub-sand grains long left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle annually create the Perseids Meteor Shower . The aurorae were unexpected, however, as electrons , protons , and heavier ions raced out from a large Coronal Mass Ejection that had occurred just days before on the Sun. In the foreground is Hahn's Peak, an extinct volcano in Colorado , USA . The Perseid meteor shower peaks this year over the next few days, with as much as one bright meteor per minute visible from some locations.