Comets, meteors and asteroids

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Meteors and meteorites
All of us are familiar with the sight of a sudden flash of light passing across part of the night sky.

Comets
Comets have been associated by the superstitious with disasters and other notable historical events.

How to make your own comet
One of the neatest demonstrations in astronomy is to make a comet in the classroom.

Annual meteor showers
Dates and details of all the annually-occurring meteor showers visible from the UK.

The Leonid meteors
Meteors from this shower can be seen over a period of about 2 days centred on approximately November 17 in the constellation Leo.

The Minor Planets or Asteroids
Between 1801 and 1807 small starlike objects were discovered in the solar system. These small bodies became known as Minor Planets or asteroids.

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)
Asteroids are remnant material from the formation of the solar system and the initial development of the planets.

The Perseids
The Perseids are the best-known of the meteor showers and can be seen in August each year, with the maximum activity on or around 12 August.

The closest object ever
The closest recorded encounter between a natural object and the Earth took place on 31 March 2004.

Meteors bring warm glow to cold January skies
On 3 January 2006 the annual Quadrantid meteor shower took place in the northern hemisphere.

Asteroid squeaks past Earth in close approach
Amateur astronomers in the United States watched in July 2006 as a mountain-sized asteroid raced past the Earth.

Colossal ball of gas glued together by dark matter
In 2006 a comet-like ball of gas was found, moving through a cluster of galaxies at 750 km per second.

The lion roars one last time: the Leonids 2006
The 2006 Leonid shower may be the last such outburst until the end of the century.

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Comets, meteors and asteroids

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