The peak of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is said to be on Saturday, May 6th. It is one of two annual meteor showers from Halley's Comet. The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory will open to give people a fantastic view of the meteor shower.
A meteor shower can be seen through a sporadic meteor in the sky at any time. It comes from the radiant and the further the meteors are from the radiant the longer their trails tend to be. In the Northern Hemishpere, the earth-grazers appear to skim through our atmosphere, Conde Nast Traveler reported.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower was named for its apparent source, which is the Eta Aquarii, a star found in the Aquarius constellation. The peak of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected the grace the skies over night on Saturday.
There are two ways to view the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. One is before the Moon sets, or stargazers can wait until after 4 a.m. Or one can watch until the dawn encroaches at around 5:45 a.m. It extends over several more days in case one misses to see it.
For those who would follow the pre-dawn strategy, the brilliant Venus and Fomalhaut will shine bright. Venus can be spotted low in the east and Fomalhaut is low in the South East. Fomalhaut is also known as The Lonely One or the Solitary One because it sits alone with no other bright stars nearby Florida Today reported.
Meteors leave a persistent trail, which will all point back in Eta Aquarii's direction. One doesn't necessarily need to know where Eta Aquarii is and there is no need to look at the radiant.
Everyone is advised to keep watch all of the sky and be patient. Even at 20 to 50 meteors per hour, it may take minutes between sightings. A reclining chair and blankets can help to keep one's neck from tiring.
