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JOHN BISSET / STUFF
Peter Aldous, an amateur astronomer at the Geraldine Observatory, said people do not need special equipment or an observatory to watch a meteor shower this weekend – just a little bit of luck.
Saturday's new moon will offer a black ink sky in South Canterbury and will provide residents with a perfect opportunity to watch this year's Eta Aquariid meteor shower.
According to a local astronomer, the shower will be one of the most beautiful showers of the year because there will be no moon to hide the show.
One of the two annual rains caused by Halley's comet, the meteors are expected to be visible several mornings around May 5th.
JOHN BISSET / STUFF
Peter Aldous, of Geraldine, will be ready to see the meteor shower expected this weekend.
Amateur astronomer Peter Aldous of the Geraldine Observatory, who has 72 years of experience in stargazing, said that people did not need to "watch out." Special equipment or observatory to watch a meteor shower, but a little luck, especially with the weather, was always useful.
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"Meteorites are shooting stars and everyone loves shooting stars," Aldous said.
"These are objects to the naked eye.You just go out on a clear night, take a comfortable chair and look into the night sky."
The other annual meteorite rain is the Orionids which takes place in October. These events are named after their apparent "radiant" point in the constellation Aquarius, near one of its brightest stars, Eta Aquarii.
"If astronomy interests you, it's the remains of a comet that has entered, bypassed the sun and lost particles of its own mass, which creates meteor showers" said Aldous.
"Astronomers are very interested in that, they keep detailed records."
Enthusiasts and astronomers will capture and film the event with a few streaming websites to help people affected by light pollution watch the event.
"Some astronomers have their cameras set up and they will be viewing long exposure photographs to see how many meteorites they can capture as part of the camera," Aldous said.
"Others will be satisfied to sit outside counting the number of meteors."
In general, the best time to observe fast and often bright meteors is early morning, before morning twilight.
"Give yourself at least an hour of watching time to watch any meteor shower." Meteors tend to come in bursts interspersed with breaks, "said Aldous.
According to EarthSky.org, the late evening is the best time to see grazers, meteors that form exceptionally long streaks in the sky.
"As the radiant rises higher – that is, the hours of the night go to bed at dawn – you will see shorter meteors, but more meteors," he said. site.
"In a dark sky, especially in more southerly latitudes, Eta Aquariids can produce up to 20 to 40 meteors per hour."
The MetService office weather indicates a partly cloudy weather for Saturday night, but a rain Sunday could disappoint meteor observers.
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