The Eta Aquarids Peak Tonight

The Eta Aquarids Peak tonight in the late night or early morning, depending on how you go about your day. The Eta Aquarids radiant is from the constellation Aquarius in May. In October the same debris trail creates the Orionids. The Eta Aquarids last until about May 28th. Look towards Eta Aquarii, one of the brighter stars in the constellation Aquarius.

The parent celestial body of the Eta Aquariids is Halley’s Comet. The most famous comet in the world. Taking 76 years to orbit the sun, the next visit will be in 2061, last visit was in 1986. Every time a comet enters our solar system and orbits the sun it leaves behind a trail of debris. When the earth travels through these debris trails we get meteor showers.

Halley’s comet is famous because it has been sighted for a millennia. Edmund Halley in 1705 discovered the comet and traced its sightings as far back as 1066.

Look up tonight, or early predawn morning, and maybe you will see 20 to 30 meters an hour during the peak of the Eta Aquariids. The nearly full waxing gibbous moon will create a lot of light pollution. Sitting in a moon shadow helps alleviate that problem to a degree. Moon set is predawn, between those hours will be the best viewing.