Sky Matters: Go meteor-watching in May — you can expect to see 30 an hour

"With dark moonless skies, and if you give your eyes 10-20 minutes to fully adapt to the dark, you’ll be able to see more of the fainter meteors whilst also getting a better view of the brighter ones."

Digital composite of 30 photographs taken over a period of 15 minutes. A meteor and star trails during the Perseid meteor shower seen from near Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, as the Earth flies through a cloud of cometary dust creating a spectacular display of celestial fireworks.

The first week of May starts off with the Earth crashing into comet Halley. But don’t panic - it’s not as disturbing as it might at first seem. 

It’s Halley’s trail of dust and gas that we collide with, left in the wake of the comet which most recently paid us a visit in 1986.