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Man’s dash cam captures incredible video of Perseid meteor over Virginia

Posted at 11:45 AM, Aug 05, 2014
and last updated 2014-08-05 11:51:46-04

RICHMOND, Va. — The Perseid meteor shower is not expected to peak until next week, but that is not preventing Mother Nature from putting on a show in the nighttime sky.

John Huber, of Apex. N.C., said he was driving through Virginia on his way home Monday night when he spotted a meteor streak across the sky. Huber shared video of what his dash camera captured at about 10 p.m.

Look closely between the :03 – :05 marks.

Huber was driving on Interstate 85 near the town of Dewitt at the time.

“Every year, from around July 17 to August 24, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent of the Perseid meteor shower. Debris from this comet litters the comet’s orbit, but we don’t really get into the thick of the comet rubble until after the first week of August,”   wrote on EarthSky.org. “The bits and pieces from Comet Swift-Tuttle slam into the Earth’s upper atmosphere at some 210,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) per hour, lighting up the nighttime with fast-moving Perseid meteors.”