The Perseid meteor shower: the Moon spoils the party!

Despite two long spells staring into the north-eastern sky, I only managed to see a few Perseids last night: however, I was fortunate enough to photograph a couple on long-exposures. There were three reasons for this year's (probably predictable) poor showing:

* The sky was somewhat hazy
* The waning last quarter Moon rose just before midnight
* The local farmer began harvesting his mint at 1.00 am: his working lights lit up the whole sky!

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable couple of hours, with great views of Mars, Jupiter Saturn and, of course, the Moon. You can also make out the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) in the bottom right corner of the first image.