A SPECTACULAR display of shooting stars lit up the skies over Scotland this weekend.

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower is created by debris from Halley’s Comet, which returns to Earth’s vicinity every 75 years.

The world’s most famous comet won’t be visible to us until 2061, but its remnants can be seen by amateur astronomers over the next few weeks.

The annual meteor shower was due to peak in the early hours of this morning and will continue until May 20.

The celestial phenomenon occurs when Earth crosses the comet’s orbital path, stirring up objects which illuminate the sky.

Stargazers can see up to 40 meteors every hour when it is at its peak, according to experts.

Planetarium Officer at Glasgow Science Centre, Nina Cameron, said: “The Eta Aquarids appear to come from one point in the sky, known as the radiant, in the constellation of Aquarius.

“The radiant is near a bright star in Aquarius called Eta Aquarii, hence the name. The meteors themselves are bits of dust from the tail of Halley's Comet that the Earth passes through between roughly the nineteenth of April and the twenty-eighth of May each year.

“The best way to see them is to find a dark area of sky with a clear southern horizon, away from the lights of the city. Take a deck chair, so that you're not straining your neck by looking up, and allow your eyes to adjust to the dark.

“This can take up to 20 minutes, and you should give yourself at least an hour of meteor hunting time. The further south you are, the more meteors you're likely to see, up to 40 per hour. In more northerly latitudes, perhaps 10 or so per hour.”

The shower is best seen in the southern hemisphere but, under clear skies, Scotland can be a great vantage point.

Tickets to see Eta Aquarids at the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory near Dalmellington were sold out this weekend.

The observatory’s Fi McClelland said: “The meteor shower was a sell-out. It peaked this weekend. We saw meteors coming across the sky as bright lights.

“There was little point in looking through a telescope because they’re so rapidly moving. They can actually be seen with the naked eye.”

Eta Aquarids is one of two annual meteor showers created by Halley’s Comet – the second one, Orionids, in seen in October. Mike Alexander of Galloway Astronomy Centre suggested an even better display will be visible then.

He said: “The main interest in the Eta Aquarids shower is that it is caused by Earth passing through the remnants from previous visits of the very famous Halley’s Comet. We intersect its orbit again in October when the shower is named the Orionids. The darker nights mean far more meteors are seen then.”

The Eta Aquarids shower was officially classified by astronomers in the late 1800s.

The shower was discovered in 1870, based on a report by GL Tupman, who was reportedly a member of the Italian Meteoric Association, and was confirmed the following year.

Halley’s Comet was named after its discoverer, the astronomer Edmond Halley. He analysed reports of a comet approaching in 1531, 1607, and 1682, and concluded they were the same one.

Although its dust is regularly seen, the comet won’t be seen from Earth until for another 44 years.