Photographers snap Perseid meteor across Dorset skies

Stargazers in the UK were treated to a shower of meteors on August 11 as the Perseid meteor shower passed across UK skies, including in Dorset. 

Described by NASA as "the best meteor shower of the year", a few lucky photographers managed to capture the meteors as they streaked across the sky, including Hang Ross, who captured both the shower and the Aurialis Borealis near Ringwood in one photo.

Hang said: "Having already failed the night before due to fog it was looking good. We arrived shortly before sunset to set up, looking north for the shooting stars that were to peak from 2am.

Hang photographed the shower near Ringwood in the New Forest. (Image: Andy Patternden)

"Forecast for Northern Lights was on the cards as well but we shouldn’t hold our bread. The Aurora activity was a bonus and I managed to capture a few shooting stars during my captures.

"It makes sitting in cold windy hillside until the early hours worthwhile."

Slightly further down from Hang at Barton-on-Sea, New Milton resident Suzanne Singleton also managed to experience the shower, snapping a photo of a meteor in the heart of the Milky Way. 

The first time in a while Suzanne had been able to get out with the camera due to recently undergoing surgery, she explained how the experience made her feel like her "brain was going back to where it used to be."

Suzanne caught the shower from a hill by the beach at Barton-on-Sea. (Image: Andy Patternden)

She said: "People either go out and take drugs and drink to get their kicks but I go out and take photos and that's where I get my buzz from. You step into a different realm and you forget everything that's around you. 

"It's the fourth time I've done it, I know you're going to get a meteor straight through the Milky Way. That was what I wanted to so I hung about and managed to get it"

Another keen photographer, Andy Pattenden, also went out to capture the shower at West Moors Plantation. 

Travelling to Norway and Iceland to capture the night sky, Andy offered advice for the public who wish to get out and see the showers tonight.

Andy captured the shower from West Moors Plantation. (Image: Andy Patternden)  

He said: "Its' got to be dark and last night it wasn't until after midnight.

"A couple of guys on social media said it would peak tonight [August 12] so just get out there when it's dark, hold your phone out and try and keep it steady."

The shower will be visible until August 13.