Comets, meteors and asteroids
All of us are familiar with the sight of a sudden flash of light passing across part of the night sky.
Comets have been associated by the superstitious with disasters and other notable historical events.
One of the neatest demonstrations in astronomy is to make a comet in the classroom.
Dates and details of all the annually-occurring meteor showers visible from the UK.
Meteors from this shower can be seen over a period of about 2 days centred on approximately November 17 in the constellation Leo.
Between 1801 and 1807 small starlike objects were discovered in the solar system. These small bodies became known as Minor Planets or asteroids.
Asteroids are remnant material from the formation of the solar system and the initial development of the planets.
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 recorded encounter between a natural object and the Earth took place on 31 March 2004.
- On 3 January 2006 the annual Quadrantid meteor shower took place in the northern hemisphere.
- Amateur astronomers in the United States watched in July 2006 as a mountain-sized asteroid raced past the Earth.
- In 2006 a comet-like ball of gas was found, moving through a cluster of galaxies at 750 km per second.
The 2006 Leonid shower may be the last such outburst until the end of the century.