Coming soon to the skies above, the Eta Aquariids.

The Eta Aquariids are a meteor shower that is visible from about April 19 to about May 28 each year. The meteor shower is the result of its parent comet, which is the famous Halley’s Comet. 

The meteors we currently see as members of the Eta Aquariid shower separated from Halley’s Comet hundreds of years ago. The current orbit of Halley’s Comet does not pass close enough to the Earth to be a source of meteoric activity.

Although this shower is not as spectacular as the Leonids may be and well below the rates of the Perseids or the Geminids, it is not an ordinary event. The Eta Aquariids get their name because their radiant appears to lie in the constellation Aquarius, near one of the constellation’s brightest stars, Eta Aquarii. The shower peaks at about a rate of around a meteor per minute, although such rates are rarely seen from northern latitudes due to the low altitude of the radiant.

The Eta Aquariids’ radiant rides low in the sky on spring mornings as seen from the Northern Hemisphere which is called the ecliptic. Meaning, that this shower favors the Southern Hemisphere.

The Best times to watch are the mornings of May 4, 5 and 6, 2022, in the hours before dawn.

For more information, please visit https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/2020-meteor-shower-list/

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Rod Washington

Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He is also the editor, producer and administrator of STM Daily News, a part of the TNC Network.