Astroblog: Don't forget the Eta Aquariids, mornings 7, 8 and 9 May, 2021

Thursday, May 06, 2021

Don't forget the Eta Aquariids, mornings 7, 8 and 9 May, 2021

The north-eastern Horizon as seen from Adelaide at 4:30 am ACST, the eta Aquariid radiant is marked with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Just a reminder that the eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, is best seen on the mornings of the 7th, 8th and 9th from 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM (that's tomorrow morning and this wekend), when Aquarius is fairly high above the horizon and the crescent Moon is low.

I you have dark skies you may see between a meteor every 3-4 minutes at this time. The radiant of the shower is about five hand-spans up from the eastern horizon, and three hand-spans to the left of due east at 4:30 am (see diagram above).

More details and rate predictions for different cities at my eta Aquariid page.

Labels: eta aquarid, Meteors, unaided eye