- News

Twice each year we see meteor showers in our skies as the Earth crosses through the trail of Halley’s Comet, passing through the stream of dusty particles that have escaped from the Comet’s nucleus and are now distributed along its orbital path.

One of these intersections gives rise to the Orionids shower around 21 October, the other is happening right now. The current comet shower – which commenced on 24 April – is a result of Eta Aquarids meteors from the trail. These meteors are currently to be seen diverging from low in the East after about 3.00am BST and the shower will peak this Friday morning – 6 May. The shower offers one of the best of the year for observers at equatorial and southern latitudes.

Why not use this opportunity to do some observing with your students? If you are unsure of what equipment to use then maybe our eLibrary resource ‘Choosing a telescope for a school’ may be of interest?

Or perhaps you could try contacting one of our expert astronomy Space Ambassadors such as Paul Roche or Andy Newsam? You can find the contact details for all the space ambassadors in the dedicated section of this website.