Hundreds of dazzling shooting stars to illuminate the skies over the Vancouver metropolitan area

Look, up there in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's meteor shower Eta Aquarid in all its celestial glory.

Astronomers in the Greater Vancouver area will have the opportunity to enjoy one of the most dazzling meteor showers of the year in May.

Although the shower takes place from late April to mid-May, it peaks around May 5th. This will be the best time to observe the astral occurrence. According to Sky and Telescope, "Etar Aquarids can emit one meteor per minute at its peak". Fortunately, the climax is around a new moon, which will allow an optimal vision because the sky will be darker.

Space.com also notes that even though Eta Aquarids do not produce as many meteors per hour as the famous August meteor shower, "they are extremely bright, if not brighter."

EarthSky advises that the best time to see the heavenly business, "is early in the morning, before sunrise." to come in jets interspersed with lulls. In addition, it can take up to 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to black. "

Astronomers should choose to travel as far as possible from city lights in order to avoid light pollution that obscures the clarity of celestial bodies. Although it works best in more remote locations, higher elevation locations also provide more ideal viewing conditions.