Skygazers are set for some celestial fireworks as Earth passes through the debris left by Halley’s Comet on Friday night. The Orionid meteor is active throughout October but is expected to peak on Friday night, producing up to 25 meteors every hour, and remaining visible until the early hours of Saturday.
The phenomenon gets its name from the Orion constellation – which is one of the brightest groups of stars in the sky. Jake Foster, a public astronomy officer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, told the PA news agency: “One of the things that makes this meteor shower extra special for some is that each meteor is a tiny piece of Halley’s Comet.”
Meteoroids from Halley’s Comet strike the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 148,000mph, burning up in streaking flashes of light. As both the Earth and Halley’s Comet have elliptical orbits around the Sun, the two intersect twice every year, causing not only the Orionids but also the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in May.
