How to see the meteor shower Eta Aquarid sizzle in the sky

The conditions are excellent this week for one of the best meteor showers of the first half.

The Eta Aquarids are officially the most active around May 7th, but this shower does not have a particularly strong spike, which means that the next nights are so many opportunities to attend the show.

A patient observer in the garden with a cloudless sky and minimal light pollution could spy on 25 to 30 shooting stars, his chances of improving as you head south. According to the American Meteor Society, the further your observation position on the globe is located to the south, the longer your viewing window is, but the meteors also appear lower in the sky. All this means that Australians will have the best viewing conditions.

These "shooting stars" are actually particles of Halley 's comet, which we last saw in 1986, but the dust particles in the space that burn this week are due to the fact that they are the only ones in the world. a closer passage of the comet dating back several centuries. They are known for their particularly fast movements, 66 km / s, which allows long trains but few balls of fire.

Halley's Comet also produced the debris cloud that gives us the Meteor shower Orionid every October.

No matter where you are, Etar Aquarids can be a little more awkward to see than other showers, unless you are very early. The show really starts after 2:00 pm local time, and will last about an hour and a half for people of about 50 degrees north latitude, which include places where many Canadians, British and French live. As you move south, the billboard window gets longer, with Australians getting a four-hour show.

You can just relax and unwind early in the morning with a wide view of the sky and have a good chance of seeing some of the meteors, or to maximize your chances of spotting them, you can orient yourself to look towards the sky. is and the "pot of water" in the constellation Aquarius.

This is a good year for the Aquarids eta because the moon will not be there to ruin your vision. But you'll always want to get as far away as possible from city lights and other sources of light pollution to get the best viewing experience.

Hoping that the weather cooperates and that you are a morning person (very early). Good supervision of the sky!