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It’s gonna be a blast!
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower is back and about to peak for a dazzling show.
The Eta Aquarids get their name from the bright star Eta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius, as the meteors appear to radiate from this point in the sky.
These meteors are fast-moving and often leave bright streaks across the night sky, visible to the naked eye for anywhere from several seconds to minutes.
They are known for their moderate to high activity levels, with an average of 20 to 30 meteors per hour during the peak — but ideal viewing conditions can reveal even more.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks during early May every year. The meteors are expected to be active this year from April 20 to May 21 and appear most densely the night of May 5 into the morning hours of May 6.
“The light from the waxing Moon will wash out the fainter meteors this year — expect to see at most 10-15 meteors per hour just before dawn on the morning of the 6th,” Bill Cooke, who leads NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office, said to NASA.
They can be seen from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
This shower is one of two meteor showers associated with Halley’s Comet — the other being the Orionids in October.
What is Halley’s comet?
Halley’s comet is a periodic comet that appears in Earth’s sky roughly once every 76 years.
The starry spectacular has been observed for hundreds of years, and is the only comet visible to the naked eye from Earth that can appear twice in a human lifetime.
Halley’s Comet orbits the Sun, traveling from the outer reaches of the solar system to the inner solar system and back, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. This debris is responsible for the meteor showers associated with the comet, like the Eta Aquarids and the Orionids.
When is the next meteor shower?
The next meteor shower is the Eta Aquarids, which is expected to peak on May 5. Following the Eta Aquarids, the next major meteor shower is the Perseids, which typically peak in mid-August.
What causes a meteor shower?
A meteor shower happens when Earth passes through a trail of debris left behind by a comet.
As a comet orbits the Sun, it sheds small particles of dust and ice, creating a debris field along its path.
When Earth intersects this path, the particles, called meteoroids, enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds and burn up due to friction with the air.
This process creates the bright streaks of light we see as meteors. Depending on the size of the particles, some meteor showers can produce impressive displays, with dozens or even hundreds of meteors visible per hour.
English (US)