Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks this weekend: UK stargazing guide

Each year in early May, Earth passes through a trail of ancient debris left by Comet Halley, and the sky responds with light — fragments of a wandering visitor that Edmund Halley first recognised as a returning traveller back in 1705. This weekend, in the hours before dawn on Saturday the 6th of May, that celestial inheritance reaches its peak over Britain, offering up to 160 shooting stars an hour to those willing to seek dark skies and patient stillness. It is a reminder, written in fire across the atmosphere, that the space through which we move is neither empty nor indifferent to our prese