How Meteor Showers Work
The Orionid meteor shower peaks around 21–22 October 2026, and every one of its shooting stars is a speck of dust from Halley's Comet. This film explains how it works: what a comet is, how Halley predicted its return, what the Giotto probe found in 1986, how dust spreads into a stream that Earth crosses twice a year, why a grain of sand flashes so brightly at 66 km per second, why all the meteors seem to fly out of one point, why you see fewer than the forecasts promise, the great storms of 1833 and 1966, and how to watch. Run a year of Earth's orbit, change a grain's speed, switch to the view from the ground, and work out how many meteors your own sky will show.
Shooting stars from a comet
Specks of dust, burning up above your head.
A dirty snowball
Ice and dust that wake up near the Sun.
Halley’s prediction
Three comets that were really one.
Face to face
In 1986 a spacecraft flew into Halley’s dust.
Dust along the orbit
Every pass leaves a little more behind.
Twice a year
Halley’s path comes near ours in two places.
Three names
One rock, named for where it is.
Why a grain shines
Speed turns a speck into a streak.
The radiant
Why every meteor seems to come from one spot.
The hourly rate
A perfect count, and the count you really get.
Meteor storms
A dense ribbon of dust, met head on.
Forecasting storms
Follow each trail, and you can call the hour.
How to watch
No telescope. Just dark, patience and time.
Crumbs of a comet
Halley is on its way back.
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