A DEDICATED astronomer stayed up two nights in a row to capture this amazing shot of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Tackley resident Mary Spicer stayed up on Monday and Tuesday to watch the celestial show for the brief moments that the clouds over Oxfordshire cleared.

The 42-year-old was able to capture some of the meteors using a digital camera that was taking pictures constantly throughout the evening.

She said: “[On Tuesday night] we had a very brief break in the clouds.

“I was up until 2.30am, at midnight it was completely clouded over but conditions improved.”

The astronomer saw about eight shooting stars – meteors burning up in the earth’s atmosphere - on Wednesday night.

The meteor showers are caused by the earth entering the debris of a comet which orbited the sun.