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Daily Mail
05-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks tonight with up to 50 shooting stars every hour - here's the best time to see the spectacular display from the UK
One of the fastest meteor showers of the year is nearly upon us - and you don't want to miss it. Up to 50 'shooting stars' will streak through the night sky every hour when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks just before dawn tomorrow. These meteors are debris from the famous Halley's comet and enter Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per second (156,000 mph). Stargazers in the UK should look southwards towards the constellation Aquarius at around 4am tomorrow morning – just before dawn – for a glimpse of the shooting stars, astronomers say. They will appear quite low in the sky but often leave lingering trails behind them. They can be seen with the naked eye so there's no need for binoculars or a telescope, though you will need to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. While people in the southern hemisphere will get a much better view, those that do appear in the UK could still be breathtaking. For the best viewing conditions, you should find a safe location away from street lights and other sources of light pollution. A meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the path of a comet – icy, rocky bodies left over from the formation of the solar system. When this happens, the bits of comet debris, most no larger than a grain of sand, create streaks of light in the night sky as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere. These streaks are known as shooting stars, even though they are not stars at all. The frequency of shooting stars – how many you see in a given period of time –depends on the meteor shower. But in the case of the Eta Aquariids, in ideal conditions you might see up to 50 or 60 meteors per hour. The shower takes place between April 19 and May 28 but it is expected to dazzle UK skies tonight. The cosmic display is the result of Earth flying through a cloud of debris left behind by Halley's Comet during its last journey through the inner solar system in 1986. Don Pollacco, a physics professor at the University of Warwick, said: 'The meteors are best seen in the predawn hours by sitting comfortably and looking south about halfway from the horizon to the overhead position.' How to see the Eta Aquariids The Eta Aquariids are viewable in both the northern and southern hemispheres, although the best view is generally in the southern hemisphere. This year the Eta Aquariids will peak in the early hours of May 6. You won't need telescopes see the meteors, just clear skies and some patience. To view the comets, southwards in the early morning, right before dawn. He explained that as comets orbit the Sun, the heat and radiation pressure evaporate material from the icy cometary nucleus – which we see as a comet's tail. 'The gas and dust created stay in the comet's orbit, even long after the comet has moved on,' he said. 'If the Earth passes through the comet's orbit, any material deposited by the comet could become meteors or shooting stars in the sky. 'These bodies are usually the size of dust particles, but when they fall into the Earth's atmosphere, they are traveling so fast that they are vapourised. 'Along the path that the dust particle travels, the gas molecules are superheated and give out light – this is a meteor. 'We don't actually see the dust, we instead see its vapourised effects on the molecules. 'As the Earth is crossing the comet orbit, the meteors all seem to be coming from the same direction – called the radiant.' The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is one of two annual displays from the debris of Halley's Comet. The other is the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks around October 21. According to Met Office cloud cover maps, clear skies are forecast across most of the UK at 4am on Tuesday (May 6), with patchy cloud above northern Scotland and across the east of England. Experts at the UK's National Space Centre, in Leicester, recommended spending 20 minutes outside first to let your eyes adjust to the dark. 'To view the Eta Aquariids from the UK, head outside anytime after midnight on the night of the 5/6 May,' their website reads. 'This year the peak coincides with the Moon in its waxing gibbous phase which will be up through the night setting around 3:00 in the morning. 'So ideally, you want to head out in the few hours before sunrise to avoid moonlight interference. 'If it's cloudy, you can always try your luck on a nearby day. The Eta Aquariids are active from 19 April – 28 May. 'So find a dark sky area, wrap up warm, and allow 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark and scan the skies to enjoy the shooting stars using only the optical tool nature gave you – your eyes!' An asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt. A comet is a rock covered in ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further out of the solar system. A meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up. This debris itself is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small they are vapourised in the atmosphere. If any of this meteoroid makes it to Earth, it is called a meteorite. Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites normally originate from asteroids and comets. For example, if Earth passes through the tail of a comet, much of the debris burns up in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Lyrid meteor shower to light up night skies over UK
The Lyrid meteor shower is predicted to peak on Tuesday night, with streaks of light dotting the night sky. The annual celestial event has been observed since the seventh century BC, making it the oldest recorded meteor shower in history. A meteor shower – otherwise known as shooting stars – occurs when asteroids or comets enter Earth's atmosphere at very high speeds and burn up. 'As comets orbit the Sun, the heat and radiation pressure evaporates material from the icy cometary nucleus, which we see as a comet's tail,' said Prof Don Pollacco, of the University of Warwick. 'The gas and dust created stay in the comet's orbit even long after the comet has moved on. If the Earth passes through the comet's orbit, any material deposited by the comet could become meteors or shooting stars in the sky. 'These bodies are usually the size of dust particles but when they fall into the Earth's atmosphere they are travelling so fast that they are vaporised. Along the path that the dust particle travels, the gas molecules are superheated and give out light – this is a meteor.' The Lyrids are created by debris from Comet Thatcher, which orbits the Sun and was discovered in 1861. 'The Lyrids are caused by Earth passing through the dusty trail left by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the Sun roughly every 415 years,' said Dr Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King's College London. 'As these comet particles burn up in our atmosphere, they produce bright streaks of light, what we see as meteors.' The Lyrids will be visible throughout Britain. 'The Lyrids are visible from most of the world but they are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere,' said Dr Balaji. 'Southern Hemisphere viewers can still catch some meteors, though the visibility there is less. 'While they're usually modest – about 10–20 meteors per hour at the peak – they occasionally produce meteor outbursts, with up to 100 meteors per hour. 'Lyrid meteors are known for being bright and fast, often leaving glowing trails in the sky that linger for a few seconds.' Experts recommend looking for the meteor shower in the early hours of the morning. 'Meteor showers typically have the highest rates in the early hours of the morning but can be seen any time the sky is dark,' said Dr Sam Rolfe, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire. 'Dark sky locations around the UK would provide the best skies but a garden or local park is also fine. The Moon doesn't rise until around 3am, so the naturally dark skies will make for good meteor shower viewing. 'At the height of the shower, observers can expect to see up to 18 meteors per hour but this is dependent on the density of the debris cloud and the artificial light pollution levels at the site of observation as fainter meteors are less likely to be spotted in areas with artificial light pollution.' No specialist equipment is required to view the Lyrids, according to Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society. 'The good thing about a meteor shower – and the Lyrids are no exception – is that you don't need any special equipment,' he said. 'The best equipment is just your eyes, looking up at the sky. Now in this particularly case, the radiant – the point of the sky they appear to come from – is in the constellation of Lyra, near the bright star Vega, part of the Summer Triangle.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Lyrid meteor shower to light up night skies over UK
The Lyrid meteor shower is predicted to peak on Tuesday night, with streaks of light dotting the night sky. The annual celestial event has been observed since the seventh century BC, making it the oldest recorded meteor shower in history. What is a meteor shower? A meteor shower – otherwise known as shooting stars – occurs when asteroids or comets enter Earth's atmosphere at very high speeds and burn up. 'As comets orbit the Sun, the heat and radiation pressure evaporates material from the icy cometary nucleus, which we see as a comet's tail,' said Prof Don Pollacco, of the University of Warwick. 'The gas and dust created stay in the comet's orbit even long after the comet has moved on. If the Earth passes through the comet's orbit, any material deposited by the comet could become meteors or shooting stars in the sky. 'These bodies are usually the size of dust particles but when they fall into the Earth's atmosphere they are travelling so fast that they are vaporised. Along the path that the dust particle travels, the gas molecules are superheated and give out light – this is a meteor.' What are the Lyrids? The Lyrids are created by debris from Comet Thatcher, which orbits the Sun and was discovered in 1861. 'The Lyrids are caused by Earth passing through the dusty trail left by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the Sun roughly every 415 years,' said Dr Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King's College London. 'As these comet particles burn up in our atmosphere, they produce bright streaks of light, what we see as meteors.' Where will the meteor shower be visible? The Lyrids will be visible throughout Britain. 'The Lyrids are visible from most of the world but they are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere,' said Dr Balaji. 'Southern Hemisphere viewers can still catch some meteors, though the visibility there is less. 'While they're usually modest – about 10–20 meteors per hour at the peak – they occasionally produce meteor outbursts, with up to 100 meteors per hour. 'Lyrid meteors are known for being bright and fast, often leaving glowing trails in the sky that linger for a few seconds.' What time should I look? Experts recommend looking for the meteor shower in the early hours of the morning. 'Meteor showers typically have the highest rates in the early hours of the morning but can be seen any time the sky is dark,' said Dr Sam Rolfe, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire. 'Dark sky locations around the UK would provide the best skies but a garden or local park is also fine. The Moon doesn't rise until around 3am, so the naturally dark skies will make for good meteor shower viewing. 'At the height of the shower, observers can expect to see up to 18 meteors per hour but this is dependent on the density of the debris cloud and the artificial light pollution levels at the site of observation as fainter meteors are less likely to be spotted in areas with artificial light pollution.' Do I need any equipment? No specialist equipment is required to view the Lyrids, according to Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society. 'The good thing about a meteor shower – and the Lyrids are no exception – is that you don't need any special equipment,' he said. 'The best equipment is just your eyes, looking up at the sky. Now in this particularly case, the radiant – the point of the sky they appear to come from – is in the constellation of Lyra, near the bright star Vega, part of the Summer Triangle.'
Telegraph
10-03-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
When to watch ‘blood moon' lunar eclipse this week
A blood moon will appear huge above the morning horizon this Friday as the lunar surface is shadowed by the Earth in a rare lunar eclipse. People living in the west of Britain will see a total eclipse of the Moon, which will begin at around 4am on March 14, while the rest of the country will see it about 90 per cent obscured. The Moon appears blood red or orange during a lunar eclipse because a small amount of light from the Sun still hits the surface after passing through Earth's atmosphere. While blue light is scattered by dust in the Earth's atmosphere, red light passes through relatively unhindered, giving the Moon an rosy glow. Caela Barry, of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at Nasa, said: 'It's as if all the world's sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.' The Moon will be fully covered for about 66 minutes and it will take approximately six hours to move through all of the Earth's shadow. The best time to view this in Britain is around 5am, before the sky becomes too bright. Professor Don Pollacco, of the University of Warwick Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, said the phenomenon would look particularly impressive because 'the full moon often looks larger when near the horizon. 'The Moon, like all planets, gives out no light of its own, but instead shines by reflecting sunlight. On Friday morning, the Moon during its monthly orbit of the Earth will pass through the Earth's shadow. 'During this period as sunlight can no longer reach the Moon you might expect it to be invisible but instead a small amount of sunlight reaches the Moon after passing through the Earth's atmosphere and this light is then reflected off the lunar surface making it visible to us on Earth.' A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and a full Moon form a near-perfect lineup in space, in what is known as syzygy. As the Moon swings into Earth's shadow, it gradually darkens, until the entire lunar disk turns from white to red, before the sequence reverses. The last time it happened was in 2022. Anyone standing on the Moon during a lunar eclipse would see Earth's silhouette cover the Sun, encircled by a reddish glow created by all the sunrises and sunsets happening in the world at that moment. Unlike a solar eclipse, lunar eclipses are safe to view with the naked eye because they only reflect sunlight – so do not get any brighter than a full Moon. However, experts said binoculars or a backyard telescope would also give a more enhanced view. Although it is known as a 'blood moon', the colour can change depending on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, with the lunar surface sometimes appearing orange or copper. If lots of clouds are present or a major volcanic eruption has recently polluted the stratosphere, a lunar eclipse can be dark red, ashen brown, or rarely almost black. Those up early to watch the eclipse in Britain should also be able to see the planets Jupiter and Mars. The Moon's dimmed light may also make constellations easier to spot than normal.
