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Each year the Earth crosses the flow of falling ice particles, disintegrating Halleys' comet. Rain will be most visible between May 4 and May 6, when 40 meteors per hour will be visible. The meteor shower is the debris of Halley's Comet, which will not come closer to our planet until 2062.
The comet, arguably the most famous of all known comets, takes between 75 and 76 years to orbit the sun, but often approaches the Earth.
When it gets closer, part of the comet's branch, which is usually as small as a grain of sand, burns in our atmosphere and allows us to see the spectacular shooting stars.
Halley's Comet creates a shower in May – the Eta Aquarid shower – and another in October – the Orionids meteor shower.
Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said, "This is a good year for the Aquaid eta meteors.
"The peak of the shower coincides with a new moon, so the sky will be black for the display."
NASA describes comets as "cosmic snowballs of gas, rocks and frozen dust" and Halley's Comet is no exception.
Unlike asteroids, which are usually only hard rocks and metals, comets are built from more volatile materials that ionize in the heat of the sun and leave behind a glowing trail.
It is thought that Halley's comet was first observed 2,200 years ago, but it was not until the astronomer Edmond Halley in 1705 that the comet was officially recognized.
The astronomer was the first scientist to correctly predict Halley's return in 1758 and Halley was honored to give the comet his name.
But the comet has been seen by different civilizations "for millennia" and was even spotted at the Battle of Hastings – you can see it sewn in the Bayeux tapestry.
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