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The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be making a dazzling display beginning Monday, May 4, at dusk, and reaching its peak before dawn on Tuesday, May 5 find out where viewing will be best and how this is related to Haley’s Comet.
The Eta Aquarids is an annual meteor shower that occurs in early May. No special equipment is needed for viewing this dazzling celestial light show. The shooting stars we see occur when the Earth’s orbit passes through a debris trail left behind by a comet or asteroid.
Most of the visible meteors we are able to view with the naked eye actually are caused by very small particles – ranging in size from equivalent to a small pebble even down to a grain of sand, these generally weigh less than 1-2 grams.
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower is a result of debris left behind by Haley’s Comet. This most famous of comets only orbits around the sun every 75 years. Each year, the Earth passes through Haley’s Comet debris field twice per year.
In May, this passage gives us the Eta Aquarids meteor shower and in October we passed through again getting the Orionids meteor shower.
The display of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower is more active for people who live in the southern hemisphere, south of the equator, where they view as many as 40 shooting stars per hour.
For areas north of the equator in the northern hemisphere, such as the United States, the rate of shooting stars per hour is in the range of 10-30 and the best show comes about an hour before dawn.
For 2020, in the US, the Eta Aquarids will reach its peak beginning at dusk on Monday, May 4, continuing through the night and into the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning, May 5.
For the best viewing, avoid looking toward the moon and try to focus on the darkest part of the sky.
The good news is, based on weather conditions, that at least three-quarters of the United States will enjoy good or at least fair viewing. That said, it’s simpler to describe where the poorest viewing will occur.
Poor viewing conditions will occur on the West Coast for Northwest Northern California and the Western halves of Oregon and Washington.
Poor viewing will also occur for portions of the upper Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Midsouth including North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and the northern half of Tennessee.
Fair viewing conditions are forecast for portions of the Midsouth, southeast, and mid-Atlantic to include northern Arkansas, Southern Tennessee, the Carolinas, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, the western half of New York and New Jersey.
On the West Coast, there will be fair viewing for the meteor shower in the Eastern halves of Washington and Oregon, northern California, northern and eastern Montana, western South Dakota, and southern Texas along the Mexico border.
Any other state or areas not mentioned will enjoy good viewing. Speaking of good reception, many people avoid getting the cheapest phone plans because they believe they are limited in coverage areas.
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