A direct hit on North America!" cries Irish astronomer Paul Evans.

Last night he was taking a deep-sky picture of the North American Nebula when a meteor streaked through the scene.

Evans caught an early-arriving Perseid. The Perseid meteor shower doesn't peak until August 12th but, as the picture shows, the display has already begun.

Meteor rates, now low, will increase in the days ahead as Earth plunges into the broad tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle.

More "direct hits" are on the way.

[link to spaceweather.com]