NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 3, 2026 featured an image by Tom Burnett showing a bright meteor streak that appeared and disappeared quickly during a long exposure of the Great Lacerta Nebula, seen faintly in red toward the center of the frame. According to the accompanying explanation, the meteoroid, likely a small pebble, glows partly by heating and exciting surrounding air in Earth's atmosphere while itself vaporizing and leaving wind-blown gas and dust whose colors give clues to its composition. The image was captured the previous month from Death Valley Observatories in Nevada, USA.

The explanation stated that the month of August 2026 was particularly good for seeing meteors, with three meteor showers ongoing, though they were competing for visibility with the glow of a bright gibbous Moon. It said the most active, the Perseids, would be busiest in about 10 days, after the Moon had dimmed considerably. It added that the Perseids peak would nearly coincide with a new Moon and, from some locations, a total solar eclipse.