Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

Set your alarm and get up before dawn to witness the Eta Aquarids meteor shower from May 5-7, 2014. The most meteors will probably rain down on May 6, in the dark hours before dawn, but watch on May 5 and 7 as well.

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower
Tuesday, May 6, 2014 – peak around 4:00 am

“Catch fleeting pieces of Comet Halley trash, as Earth passes through the famous dirty snowball’s path” – The Washington Post

In 2014, the first quarter moon will set before the prime-time hours of the Eta Aquarid shower. This meteor shower has a relatively broad maximum – meaning you watch it for several days around the predicted peak.  The broad peak to this shower means that some meteors may fly in the dark hour before dawn for a few days before and after the predicted optimal date.

The radiant is near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The radiant comes over the eastern horizon at about 4 am local time; that is the time at all locations across the globe. For that reason, the hour or two before dawn tends to offer the most Eta Aquarid meteors, no matter where you are on Earth.

At northerly latitudes – like those in the northern U.S. and Canada, or northern Europe, for example – the meteor numbers are typically lower for this shower. In the southern half of the U.S., 10 to 20 meteors per hour might be visible in a dark sky. Farther south – for example, at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere – the meteor numbers may increase dramatically, with perhaps two to three times more Eta Aquarid meteors streaking the southern skies.