Eta Aquarid meteor shower

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-eta-aquarid-meteor-shower

By Bruce McClure
May 05, 2015

A meteor shower is peaking tomorrow morning – May 6, 2015 – that should make our friends in the Southern Hemisphere happy. The Eta Aquarid shower, which can also be seen on the morning of May 7, is a fine one to view from tropical and southerly latitudes. At mid-northern latitudes, these meteors don’t fall so abundantly, though mid-northern meteor watchers will catch some, too, and might be lucky enough to catch an earthgrazer – a bright, long-lasting meteor that travels horizontally across the sky – before dawn. Because the Eta Aquarids are mainly a predawn shower, the full and waning gibbous [moon] in early May will interfere with the shower. Follow the links below to learn more about the Eta Aquarid meteor shower.

[see original article for more links.


http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-eta-aquarid-meteor-shower#how-many

Halley’s Comet is the source of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Every year, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Halley’s Comet in late April and May, so bits and pieces from this comet light up the nighttime as Eta Aquarid meteors. This shower is said to be active from April 19 to May 20, although Earth plows most deeply into this stream of comet debris around May 5 or 6.

The comet dust smashes into Earth’s upper atmosphere at nearly 240,000 kilometers (150,000 miles) per hour. Roughly half of these swift-moving meteors leave persistent trains – ionized gas trails that glow for a few seconds after the meteor has passed.

Our planet also crosses the orbital path of Halley’s Comet at the other end of the year, giving rise to the Orionid meteor shower, which is usually at its best in the predawn hours on or near October 21.

Why not see how many Eta Aquarid meteors you’ll catch in the dark hours before dawn on May 5, 6 and 7.

Bottom line: What’s a good shower for the Southern Hemisphere? In 2015, the next one will be the Eta Aquarid shower on the mornings of May 5, 6, and 7. How to watch, some history, chart showing radiant point in this post.