Stargazers from around the world conjured nocturnal instincts to witness this year’s set of shooting stars known as the Leonid Meteor Shower. While many saw the annual celestial event, clearly photographing — and identifying — all the actual elements illuminating the night sky can be a challenge, and occasional debates on distinguishing satellite flares from meteors surface in comments. In any case, those who attempted to snap the Leonids came up with captivating shots, some of which are seen here.

Employing skills in photo stacking and exposure processing, a lucky few Flickr members photographically preserved the famous pattern of light streaks that appear to pop out of the constellation of Leo earlier this week.

Kudos to the photographers, featured here, for reading the sky well and sharing what settings worked for them, because their diverse images leave us begging for their behind-the-camera stories — so click on these photos to get the scoop.

Photos from David Kingham, anieto2k, Dennis Calvert, ikewinski, HubbleColor {Zolt}, mwhcvt, and Vignesh.K.