Meteor shower threatens satellites

Astronomers say there's a strong chance at least one satellite will be put out of use by an upcoming meteor shower.

Experts expect around 10 meteors per square kilometre of sky between 17 and 19 November.

They are the debris left by the trail of comet Temple-Tuttle which passes through the Solar System every 33 years.

Most particles are smaller than a grain of sand and they burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

But Mark Bailey of the Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, explains to Nature: "A direct impact of even a single grain of dust could be catastrophic for a satellite.

"The particle would vaporise when it struck, creating a plasma. This cloud of electrically-charged gas could short-circuit the satellite's delicate electronics."

The Earth will pass through separate comet trails left at different points in history. Some are newer, and therefore more intense, than others.

This year, the Earth will pass through streams left behind in 1766, 1799, 1866, 1833 and three fainter ones from the seventeenth century.

The predictions are published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.