LAPORTE COUNTY, Ind. — A Northwest Indiana man captured the Perseid meteor shower in his backyard over the weekend.

Patrick Thompson, a professional photographer by trade, was excited going into the day because the Perseid meteor shower was expected to put on a brighter annual show this year due to a waning crescent moon.

It was good news because a bright moon and make it harder to spot the meteors.

The Perseids come from comet Swift-Tuttle, a big ball of ice and rock that sheds pieces of dusty debris as it orbits around the sun. When the Earth passes by, those bits get caught in our atmosphere and burn up, creating the streaking lights.

While an amateur astronomer, Thompson has quite an impressive lineup of equipment for his setup Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Back in February, he spoke to WGN News after capturing an amazing timelapse of C/2022 E3, more commonly known as the “green comet,” which passed by Earth for the first time in 50,000 years.

Just like back in February, Thompson used a Startracker to help produce the 2023 edition of the Perseid Meteor Shower. However, this time around he used a new Cannon camera that’s been Astro-modified — meaning it blocks out infrared and ultraviolet light.

In his backyard in Mills Creek, Thompson said the shower seemed to peak after midnight.

“My favorite moment moment was after 1 a.m.,” Thompson said. “That’s when it really came alive.”

The time lapse featured above was captured from 9 p.m. through 5 a.m. In that time, Thompson saw a lot of “shooting stars.”

“Of the ones that were noteworthy and worth mentioning, I probably saw 100 to 200,” Thompson said.

He will be back next year and hopes the show will be just as good.

“It happens every year but it’s always impressive,” Thompson said.