Halley's meteors streak past

Watch the skies this week and you could see a piece of Halley's comet, even though it won't be passing Earth until 2061.

As the comet travels on its 76-year trip around the sun, it leaves small pieces of itself behind. These meteoroids of dust and ice, travelling at over 237,000 kilometres per hour, collide with the Earth's atmosphere as it crosses the comet's orbit in early May and mid-October. The meteoroids burn up quickly high in the atmosphere, creating the streaks of a meteor shower.

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