Delta Aquariids meteor shower to light up night sky

Best time for viewing shooting stars in UK is expected to be in the hour or two after midnight on Tuesday

The first meteor shower of the summer may peak in the early hours of Tuesday morning with stargazers hoping to see dozens of shooting stars tearing across the night sky every hour.

Astronomers have debated the origins of the Delta Aquariids meteor shower, with the sungrazing comet 96P/Machholz regarded as the most likely candidate. The four-mile-wide ball of dust, rock and ice takes a little more than five years to complete an orbit around the sun.