Thread: Halley’s comet annual meteor show this week

Halley’s comet is set to put on its annual show and some areas could see up to 40 meteors per hour

One of the world’s most incredible meteor showers will light up the skies this week.

• Eta Aquarid shower will peak on Wednesday and Thursday this week
• Sky watchers in southern hemisphere will have best seats for the show
• Northerners might spy 5-10 meteors per hour over the next few mornings
• The best time to see the shower is between 3am and 5am your local time

‘Lie flat on your back with your feet facing east and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible,’ the space agency advises.

‘After about 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors. Be patient - the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse.’

Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits of broken asteroids. When comets come around the sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them.

Every year the Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colourful streaks in the sky.

The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Eta Aquarid originate from comet 1P/Halley.

Each time that Halley returns to the inner solar system its nucleus sheds a layer of ice and rock into space.

The dust grains eventually become the Eta Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October if they collide with Earth's atmosphere.

Comet Halley takes about 76 years to orbit the sun once. The last time comet Halley was seen from the Earth was in 1986. Comet Halley will not enter the inner solar system again until 2061.


Halley?s comet is set to put on its annual show | Daily Mail Online

It's not exactly Halley's Comet though. A few little bits perhaps.

Thanks for the heads-up Neverna.