Meteor Shower Expected To Twinkle Over UK

Shooting stars are expected to twinkle over the UK for the next couple of days.

Clear skies are forecast on Thursday night, when the Eta Aquarid meteors are predicted to be at their most visible.

The shower is active from April to November, but peaks in early May.

Those in the southern hemisphere will have the best view, but it should be possible to spot between 10 and 20 meteors an hour from the UK.

They are formed from debris shed by Halley’s Comet, which takes 75-76 years to complete a single orbit of the sun.

It will not get close to the earth again until 2062.

But tiny particles from it, the size of grains of sand, burn up in the atmosphere.

They become visible twice a year, producing both the Eta Aquarids, and the Orionids meteor shower, which can be seen in October.

The Eta Aquarids appear to some from the direction of the constellation Aquarius, in the northeast.

The best time to see them will be just before dawn on Friday.

A dark location in the countryside would give the clearest view.

For town and city dwellers, a robotic telescope service, Slooh, will be offering pictures online from 1am on Friday morning.