The 2024 Perseid meteor shower and northern lights overlapped in a rare cosmic display. See photos of the dazzling event.

Late Monday and into early Tuesday morning, Aug. 13, the Perseid meteor shower hit its peak across the Northern Hemisphere, delighting skywatchers with a dazzling light show that won't be seen again until 2025.

The Perseid meteor shower, commonly known as the Perseids, is considered the brightest, most prolific meteor shower of the year. During the event, about 50 to 100 visible meteors streaked across the sky per hour, trailing long wakes of light and color behind them.

Because of this colorful and plentiful display, the Perseids are the highlight of many a meteor hunter’s calendar.

But for some lucky stargazers, the Perseids were accompanied by another incredible cosmic display: the aurora borealis, or the northern lights.

In a rare event, the Perseid meteor shower coincided with a geomagnetic storm, resulting in conditions that made the aurora borealis visible for some very fortunate skywatchers in places like Minnesota, New York and Nevada.

While the elevated geomagnetic activity was predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the northern lights making an appearance was unexpected, as space weather can be unpredictable, and auroras only occur under just the right conditions.

According to NASA, solar activity has been unusually busy in recent months due to the Sun entering its solar maximum, a peak in the star's 11-year solar cycle that will cause intensified sunspots and increased geomagnetic storms. The peak will begin in late 2024 and end in early 2026, when the sun will enter its solar minimum, the period of lowest solar activity.

If you weren't lucky enough to glimpse the celestial light show, here are some photos of the rare event captured around the world.

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