05-02-2018, 01:24 PM
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks Saturday through Monday, May 5-7, with the potential for a long stretch of shooting stars. Whether you'll be able to see them, of course, depends on the local forecast and a still bright moon.
Though the shower favors the Southern Hemisphere, the Eta Aquarids are typically a decent show that can produce up to 30 meteors an hour north of the equator. The farther south you are, the better the views are. For example, the show will be more dazzling in Miami than in New York or San Francisco.
As with most meteor showers, the best time to catch the Eta Aquarids is just before dawn Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. The meteors appear to originate from Eta Aquarii, one of the brightest stars in the constellation Aquarius, which can be seen at this time of the year.
For the best views of the Eta Aquarids, lie flat on your back facing east and look up so you'll get a wide view of the sky, Bill Cooke who leads NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, wrote in a blog. These meteors are known for their speed, traveling about 148,000 mph, and can leave glowing "trains" — incandescent bits of debris in the wake of meteor. The trains can last for several seconds or even minutes.
Meteors are the product of leftover comet particles and broken asteroids that leave a dusty trail as they travel around the sun. As the Earth passes through these debris trails, the particles collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate into fiery, colorful streaks in the sky.
The Eta Aquarids are produced by debris left from the comet 1P/Halley, which also produces the Orionids in October.
The Eta Aquarids appear to originate from Eta Aquarii, which is one of the brightest stars in the constellation Aquarius, but they can be seen anywhere in the sky. In mid-northern latitudes, the radiant point — where they appear to originate — won't be high in the sky, so viewers will want to seek out dark skies with a clear view of the southern horizon.
Dark skies away from city light pollution are ideal, but some of the brighter meteors, and perhaps even a couple of fireballs, should be visible from a suburban backyard, according to National Geographic.
There's a hitch, though. A waning gibbous moon — that is, one halfway between full and quarter moon phase — could block the faintest of the Eta Aquarid meteors.
Though the shower favors the Southern Hemisphere, the Eta Aquarids are typically a decent show that can produce up to 30 meteors an hour north of the equator. The farther south you are, the better the views are. For example, the show will be more dazzling in Miami than in New York or San Francisco.
As with most meteor showers, the best time to catch the Eta Aquarids is just before dawn Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. The meteors appear to originate from Eta Aquarii, one of the brightest stars in the constellation Aquarius, which can be seen at this time of the year.
For the best views of the Eta Aquarids, lie flat on your back facing east and look up so you'll get a wide view of the sky, Bill Cooke who leads NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, wrote in a blog. These meteors are known for their speed, traveling about 148,000 mph, and can leave glowing "trains" — incandescent bits of debris in the wake of meteor. The trains can last for several seconds or even minutes.
Meteors are the product of leftover comet particles and broken asteroids that leave a dusty trail as they travel around the sun. As the Earth passes through these debris trails, the particles collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate into fiery, colorful streaks in the sky.
The Eta Aquarids are produced by debris left from the comet 1P/Halley, which also produces the Orionids in October.
The Eta Aquarids appear to originate from Eta Aquarii, which is one of the brightest stars in the constellation Aquarius, but they can be seen anywhere in the sky. In mid-northern latitudes, the radiant point — where they appear to originate — won't be high in the sky, so viewers will want to seek out dark skies with a clear view of the southern horizon.
Dark skies away from city light pollution are ideal, but some of the brighter meteors, and perhaps even a couple of fireballs, should be visible from a suburban backyard, according to National Geographic.
There's a hitch, though. A waning gibbous moon — that is, one halfway between full and quarter moon phase — could block the faintest of the Eta Aquarid meteors.