How to Observe the Eta-Aquarid Meteor Shower
At this time of year, the sky gives a pleasant sight to mere mortals living on earth. You may already be hungry for the next big event in space, given that the Lyrids have already come and gone this month and the pink Supermoon has already entered a less mind-boggling phase.
Don’t be discouraged: space has more and more reasons to go outside in the wee hours with another show that has actually been in full swing since April 19: the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This particular downpour comes from the legendary Halley Comet and sends burning shards of rock and ice flying through space at 148,000 miles per hour .
Don’t worry, though, you can still see these very fast space rocks if you follow normal star-observing protocol, especially if you live in more southerly latitudes.
What are Eta-Aquarids?
They come from Halley’s comet, which itself is only visible from Earth every 76 years. Due to Halley’s icy, gaseous and dusty composition, parts of the comet flake off every year around April and May, when the Earth crosses its orbital trajectory, creating this particular stream. The shower is at a breakneck speed, Ertski said , but luckily for the observers below, the meteors leave “trails of ionized gas that glow for a few seconds after the meteor has passed.”
Halley’s comet actually has another meteor shower that is present in October – the Orionids. However, Eta-Aquarids occur this year from April 19 to May 28, and their peak occurs on Wednesday, May 5.
How to see Eta-Aquarids
Meteors come from their radiant, the constellation Aquarius. More specifically, the star of origin of the meteor – This Aquarius, which is located in the Y-shaped asterism “water jug”, located in the northern part of Aquarius, indicates Ertski.
You don’t have to look to see the beams of a meteor shower, as rocks streaking across the sky usually cover an area wide enough to be seen just by looking up. But the height of the radiant indicates the peak of the meteor shower. Earthsky elaborates on how this works for this particular shower:
For Eta-Aquarius, the highest ray in the night sky is just before dawn. This is why you can expect to see the most meteors in the early morning hours.
While other meteor showers this year have meant that people in more northern latitudes can see them best, Eta Aquarids are most visible to people in the Southern Hemisphere (although still visible to people in the Northern Hemisphere).
In other words, if you live in the American South or Southwest, you will have a wonderful view. But wherever you live, the show will still be visible, albeit less dramatic. NASA notes that in the Northern Hemisphere, the shower usually sends 10 meteors per hour across the sky, but in more southerly regions, this figure can increase to 20.
The best way to see the show is to go outside late at night. Earthsky notes that the rain peak technically occurs in late evening, while the radiant is still relatively low, but wanes as the radiant moves higher in the sky:
Late evening is the best time to see herbivores, meteors, which form exceptionally long streaks across your sky. As the radiant rises higher, that is, as the night hours turn into dawn, you will see shorter meteors, but more meteors.
As usual, if you decide to go outside for a visual feast, avoid light pollution and look up.