Meteor captured over Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia, during
the 2013 Eta Aquarid shower. Photo by Justin Ng of Singapore. See more photos by Justin Ng.
A meteor shower is coming up in early May 2014 that should make our friends in the Southern Hemisphere very happy. The Eta Aquarid shower, which peaks before dawn May 5-7, 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 waxing moon in early May will have set before the Eta Aquarid meteors start to streak the nighttime sky. Follow the links below to learn more about the Eta Aquarid meteor shower.
When and how should I watch the Eta Aquarids?
Radiant point of the Eta Aquarid shower
How many meteors should I expect to see?
Why more Eta Aquarid meteors in the Southern Hemisphere?
Halley’s Comet is the source of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower.
When and how should I watch the Eta Aquarids? The 2014 Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to produce the greatest number of meteors in the wee hours before dawn on Tuesday, May 6. However, the broad peak of the Eta Aquarid shower may present similarly strong showings during the predawn hours on Monday, May 5, and Wednesday, May 7.
Once again, the best time to watch these fast and often bright meteors is in the early morning hours, before the onset of morning twilight, on May 5, 6 and 7, 2014. Don’t know when twilight begins in your part of the world? Try one of the links on our almanac page.
Give yourself at least an hour of viewing time for watching any meteor shower. Meteors tend to come in spurts that are interspersed by lulls. Also, it can take as long as 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
You need no special equipment to watch a meteor shower, but a little luck always helps. Meteor watching is a lot like fishing. Sometimes you catch a good number of them and sometimes you don’t.
- EarthSky
