Shows that are out of this world

THE Perseid meteor shower, known in medieval times as the “tears of St Lawrence”, occurs each year around now when the Earth passes through the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteors are particles of dust from its wake.

Up to 60 “shooting stars” per hour can be seen on a clear night.

But there’s another source of extra-terrestrial visitors. The Asteroid Belt, a vast ring of debris orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, is all that remains of proto-planets which never got a chance to develop; they collided with each other under fierce gravitational forces when passing by Jupiter.