Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower:
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, which has been active since April 15, will peak on May 5 and 6.
- Eta Aquariid meteor is formed when Earth passes through the orbital plane of the famous Halley’s Comet, which takes about 76 years to orbit the Sun once.
- It seems to be originating from the Aquarius constellation thats why called Eta Aquariid’.
- It is known for its rapid speed.
- This makes for long, glowing tails which can last up to several minutes.
- About 30 to 40 Eta Aquarid meteors can be seen per hour during the peak of the meteor shower, if observed from the Southern Hemisphere.
- The number decreases to about 10 meteors per hour if being viewed in the Northern Hemisphere.
- This is due to the location of the “radiant” the position in the sky where the meteor shower seems to come from.
- In the Northern Hemisphere, Eta Aquarid meteors most often appear as ‘Earthgrazers’ — long meteors which appear to skim the surface of the Earth.
- In the South, however, they can be seen higher up in the sky and hence are more visible.
