Meteors and a Christmas comet brighten night skies

HUNDREDS of meteors and a “Christmas Comet” are expected to continue lighting up the night sky as the festive season approaches.

The skies over Britain are set to erupt in a seasonal light display over the weekend, stargazers say, with an estimated 80 shooting stars an hour passing through the Earth’s atmosphere.

The streaks of coloured light are the debris of the Geminid meteors burning up in the planet’s atmosphere.

The Geminid meteors originate from a rocky asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, and each year the Earth passes through a trail of debris left by the asteroid as it travels around the Sun.

Geminids travel slower, at about 35km per second, and burn brighter than most other meteors – creating long, glowing arcs of white, yellow, blue, red and green.

People looking to the southern skies should be able to see the shooting stars, the Met Office say, as long as patchy cloud does not obscure views.

However, gales, heavy rain and blizzards are expected today.

One stargazer caught the meteors on camera streaking across the skies over Gilbert in Arizona –about 20 miles south-east of Phoenix. Twitter user @jekeyessaid captured the footage over a period of about an hour-and-a-half.

The time-lapse video shows a few long streaks that he said are planes, but the shorter streaks show the meteors passing across the sky.

The meteor shower is expected to be visible in clear skies until Monday.

But the meteors are not the only part of the celestial Christmas light display, with Comet Wirtanen passing the Earth this weekend as well.

It will pass close enough to be visible to the naked eye in the night sky in rural and suburban areas.

Astronomers have dubbed it the “Christmas Comet” and it is predicted it will be the brightest comet of 2018.

Comet Wirtanen will be at its brightest and most visible in the southern sky mid-december as it makes its regular orbit around the planet.

But while in some dark rural areas it will be visible to the naked eye, astronomers are recommending people use binoculars or telescopes to get the best view of it.

Its closest passage by the Earth will be tomorrow, when it will be 7.2 million miles from the planet.

It is not predicted to be this bright again for at least another 20 years, presenting a very rare viewing opportunity.