Meteor shower set to light up UK tonight - where and when to see aquariid event

Image: Sunday Mail)

The UK is set for a meteor shower that will bring bright bolts of light across the sky this weekend as Earth passes through the debris of Halley's Comet.

A meteor shower is a celestial event where a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, named after the star it is thought to radiate from, comes around annually. The event should be visible all weekend, provided the weather remains clear enough for the shooting stars to be seen.

According to the Met Office, its "computer models are disagreeing" about where will might see the worst weather around the UK. Their cloud cover map suggests that the clearest skies will be in southern England on Saturday, while the majority of areas in Wales will have the best chance to spot the bolting lights on Sunday.

When is the best time to watch the Eta Aquariid meteor shower?

The annual Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected to peak on Sunday night into Monday morning but should be visible, weather-permitting, all weekend.

Space-enthusiasts wanting to get in on the action should look to the east before dawn to be able to see the meteors low in the sky. While the meteors are more easily visible in the southern hemisphere, they can still be spotted from UK soil. But this weekend's weather will determine the quality of your stargazing experience.

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The Royal Observatory Greenwich's site says: "Hunting for meteors, like the rest of astronomy, is a waiting game. It's best to bring a comfy chair to sit on and to wrap up warm as you could be outside for a while."

Stargazers are encouraged to get away from sources of light pollution, like street lights or houses, to allow their eyes to adjust to the dark.

What is the Eta Aquariid meteor shower?

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is a celestial event which comes around annually and is named after the star it appears to radiate from. Unlike other big annual meteor showers, there is no particular time that the shower will 'peak' or become more active. The Eta Aquariid shower will instead be spotted across a number of days around this time in May.

Meteors can be seen in our skies when debris from space crosses into our atmosphere. The speed at which they travel means they heat up and begin to glow, leaving behind a trail that we can see when we look up into the sky. The meteors from the Eta Aquariid shower are the debris from Halley's Comet.

While observing Halley's Comet, astronomers made the discovery that comets could pass through the solar system multiple times. Historians then realised that Halley's Comet had been spotted by humans for thousands of years. According to NASA, the famous comet features in the Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the Battle of Hastings in 1066.