THE ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER ACTIVE RIGHT NOW AND PEAKING ON MAY 6TH! – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER!!! 💖🌒🌠☄️✨
A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER
- Parent Body: Comet 1P/Halley
- Radiant Constellation: Aquarius
- Shower activity between: 18th of April – 27th May
- Peak activity: 6th May
- Peak meteor count: S hemisphere up to 55 per hour, N hemisphere up to 25 per hour
- Best time/date to observe: early morning of the 6th of May (and possibly the mornings after)
After a long major meteor shower drought, April treated us to the Lyrid meteor shower and the start of the Eta Aquarid shower. As we head into the month of May we will also soon be treated to the peak of the Eta Aquariids.
The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is active between mid-April and the end of May. Whilst the Eta Aquariids favours the Southern Hemisphere and as such is not the most intense meteor shower in the UK, it can still be a fairly strong display, producing up to 25 meteors an hour under perfect conditions in the Northern Hemisphere.
UNFORTUNATELY, this year’s peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower may not be the best for observing as during the peak the 83% illuminated waning gibbous Moon will be in the skies when the radiant for the meteor shower has risen above the horizon. This means the Moon will be creating some natural light pollution when the meteor shower is most active, making it harder to see fainter meteors in the moonlit skies.
HOWEVER, the Moon will not be in the skies for most of the night and the Aquariids are known for bright meteors, plus you will still be likely to see a fair amount of fainter meteors when not looking near the Moon. For these reasons we still recommend heading out to see if you can catch a few shooting stars.
We have already seen lots of great meteors throughout April and early May in the run up to the peak. So fingers crossed, we will get to see some more amazing meteors as we head into the peak of the Eta Aquarid shower.
All in all, it’s a great time to spot meteors and well worth spending an hour or two out star gazing on these beautiful and much warmer Spring nights.
If you would like more detailed information on the Eta Aquarid meteor shower and meteors in general, including what meteors are, where they come from, what you need to know about to maximise your chances of viewing meteors, plus our personal recommendations and tips for when and where to look, please read on…
THE ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER
The Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower is so named because the radiant point from which its meteors appear to radiate from is located within the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius the water bearer, and more specifically the Eta star of Aquarius.
The Eta Aquariids are known for their fast meteors which typically travel at a velocity of 41 miles per second as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, in mph that’s a speed of roughly 148,000 miles per hour!
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is also known for displaying bright meteors that leave long trails and can occasionally produce super bright meteors known as fireballs, which are exceptionally bright meteors (brighter than Venus) or exploding meteors known as bolide meteors (brighter than the Moon) that blaze across the night sky amazing all those that witness them.
Unfortunately for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, this meteor shower is best placed for those in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason for this is because the radiant appears low in the sky during the dawn hours for us and rises higher in the Southern hemisphere’s skies. This means we may only expect to see half the amount of the potential 55 meteors per hour, up to 25 meteors per hour at the showers peak under perfect conditions. Nevertheless, the Eta Aquariid shower is still a great meteor shower to look out for.
WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM? / PARENT BODY – COMET 1P/HALLEY
Most meteor showers are caused by comet debris that crosses Earth’s orbit, some showers are caused by asteroid debris.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is caused by the debris left behind from the comet 1P/Halley.
Comet Halley has visited our inner solar system many times in the past and many sightings of the comet have been recorded by astronomers throughout human history. It is thought that records of sightings of comet Halley go as far back as 240BC when the comet was observed by ancient Chinese astronomers. However, it wasn’t known that many of these sighting were actually of the same object orbiting the sun until a very clever scientist observed and studied the comet in 1682.
Comet 1P/Halley was observed in 1682 by the famous British intellectual Edmond Halley. Halley studied records about comet sightings throughout history and came to the conclusion that many of these sightings were all of the same object that orbited the Sun at a regular interval. Halley predicted the comet would re-appear in 1758, and he was proven correct! This was the first comet to have been discovered to have a short orbital period hence it’s designation 1P and was named after Halley who discovered its periodic nature.
Comet Halley takes 75-76 years to orbit the sun (its orbital period), it last visited the central solar system in 1986 and will return again 2061.
An interesting fact about the parent comet Halley is that the Eta Aquariids is one of two meteor showers created by debris from the same comet. The other is the Orionid meteor shower which graces our skies in October.
WHAT CAUSES THE LIGHT FROM METEORS?
As a comet or asteroid travels through space, it leaves a trail of dust and debris behind it. When Earth intersects these trails, we slam into the dust and debris in their wake. The debris then enters the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly high speed, generating immense amounts of frictional energy that is released in the form of intense heat and light. Meteors tend to vary from the size of a sand grain to about as big as a pea. The bigger the piece of debris, the bigger and brighter the meteor.
When a meteoroid particle strikes the upper atmosphere at high speed, it heats up to around 1,650°C and starts to glow. The meteoroid also compresses and heats the air in front of it, exciting atoms like oxygen which in turn radiate light. Together, the two processes produce the bright, needle-like flashes known as meteors or "shooting stars."
Occasionally, a meteoroid may be large enough to survive its fiery journey through our atmosphere, landing somewhere on Earth. When a meteoroid manages to land on our planet, it becomes known as a meteorite.
METEOR COLOURS ❤️💙💜🧡💛☄️
When meteoroids burn up in our atmosphere, they can sometimes create beautifully colourful trails behind them. The colours that meteors display are partly caused by the presence of traces of elements such as sodium, iron and calcium, the same elements that are used to make fireworks colourful.
These elements become ionised as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere and emit a beautiful range of different coloured meteor trails as their particles burn up in the atmosphere. The colours that are emitted depend on the elements being excited.
Here are the colours associated with different elements found in meteors: 👇
🟠 Orange-yellow — sodium;
🟡 Yellow — iron;
🔵 Blue-green — magnesium;
🟣 Violet — calcium;
🔴 Red — atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen.
The speed at which the meteor enters the Earth’s atmosphere can also affect the colour. The faster a meteor moves, the more intense it’s colour may appear.
FIREBALL METEORS
On rare occasions, when a meteoroid is large enough, it is possible to view extremely bright meteors which are known as “Fireballs”. A meteor is called a fireball when it reaches a magnitude (brightness) equal to or brighter than that of the planet Venus. Venus is about -4 in magnitude, a meteor must be brighter than this to be known as a fireball. These fireballs are so bright that they can easily be seen in heavily light-polluted areas such as cities.
On very rare occasions, it is possible to view meteors that explode and separate into several pieces in the sky. We have been treated to sights of a couple of these at the public stargazing events that we run. These explosive meteors are known as “bolides” and can outshine the bright full moon. They are an incredible sight to witness.
WHAT FACTORS TO CONSIDER TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE METEORS
In order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors from a meteor shower it helps to consider a few things.
The main thing you need to consider when looking for meteors from a meteor shower is the date when the Earth travels it’s furthest into the trail of debris left by the parent comet or asteroid. Around this period of time there will be a higher number of meteoroids entering the Earth’s atmosphere, this is the peak of the meteor shower.
The next most important thing to consider for many showers is the time that the radiant for the meteor shower will be high in the sky. The higher the radiant is in your visible sky, the higher your chances of viewing meteors will be. However, sometimes the radiant for a shower may not be at its highest point in the sky when the skies are dark.
You must also take the brightness of the skies into account along with the radiant’s location in order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors.
There are also other factors such as the Earth weather, the conditions of your viewing location and the Moon’s position and phase that will affect how easy it is to view meteors and need to be considered.
WHEN IS THE PEAK / THE BEST NIGHT TO WATCH?
The exact time of peak activity for the Eta Aquariids (when the Earth travels furthest into the trail of comet 1P/Halley) will be in the morning of the 6th of May at around 10:21 BST.
Although this will be when Earth travels furthest into the material that causes this meteor shower, this is during daytime and so you won’t be able to see any meteors at this time. Therefore the time where the shower will be most active during darker skies will be the early morning hours of the 6th.
Don’t worry if it’s cloudy during the peak. Unlike many other major annual meteor showers, there is no sharp peak for this shower, but rather a plateau of good rates that last approximately one week around the 5th-7th May.
There are other factors to take into account (please see below) that will affect the amount of visible meteors.
WHERE TO LOOK / THE RADIANT
To help you know where is best to look for meteors it helps to understand a little about meteor shower radiants.
Meteors from a specific meteor shower will appear to originate from a particular area of the sky which is known as the “radiant”.
The radiant for the Eta Aquarid meteor shower can be found within the boundaries of the constellation Aquarius.
The constellation of Aquarius can be found in between the constellations of Capricornus and Pisces and just below Pegasus.
More specifically, the exact location for the radiant can be found nearby to the stars Sadaltager and Sadachbia of Aquarius.
You don’t really need to know exactly where the meteors radiate from because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. However, knowing where the radiant is may help you increase your chances of viewing meteors if you follow this top tip:
Top Tip! - If you can locate the radiant, try looking at a dark part of the sky around 45 degrees away from the radiant to maximise your chances of viewing meteors. This area of the sky tends to be the easiest area to spot meteors. Meteors seen closer to the radiant will appear shorter / leave shorter trails compared to others further away from the radiant.
Cool Fact! - You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it appeared to travel in across the sky. If this line leads you close to a meteor shower’s radiant location, you can safely bet that meteor belonged to that specific meteor shower.
WHAT TIME TO LOOK / RADIANT CONTINUED
Although it can help knowing the exact location of the radiant, the main thing you need to know about a meteor shower radiant is that it has risen above the horizon. Once the radiant has risen in the sky there will be a higher chance of seeing meteors, and the higher the radiant has risen, the more meteors will be visible.
With many meteor showers (the Moon aside) the best time to head out and watch meteor showers is usually on the peak night between midnight and dawn, when the radiant is (usually) high in the sky and the skies are darkest. Don’t worry if you can’t head out this late, there should still be plenty of meteors about earlier in the night.
During the peak on the morning of the 6th of May, the radiant for the Eta Aquariids will rise above the Eastern horizon at roughly 02:40 BST. As the morning progresses, the radiant will continue to rise higher in the sky travelling towards the East and then South where it will reach its highest point in the sky at roughly 08:37 BST. However the skies will be bright at this time and so the early morning just after 02:40 BST on the morning of the 6th will be best radiant-height-wise.
If you head out earlier in the night, you might also be treated to something known as an “Earth grazer” meteor (long, slow, colourful meteors that skim across the edge of our atmosphere).
WHERE TO VIEW FROM / VIEWING LOCATION
The location that you do your stargazing from can make a big difference to the number of stars and in this case shooting stars that are possible to see in the night sky. The less light there is around your viewing location, the more your eyes will be able to adapt to the darkness, the darker the skies will be and the more of the fainter meteors from a shower will be visible.
Ideally for meteor showers and generally enjoying the night sky, you want to find a safe dark location, with clear views of most of the sky, and as far away from sources of light such as street lights as possible.
Although the waning gibbous Moon will affect meteor visibility during the peak for this year’s Aquariids, it will still help not having any bright lights in your line of sight.
DARK ADAPTATION / NIGHT VISION
When out meteor watching, in order to view as many meteors as possible it can help to allow your eyes become adapted to seeing faint objects in the sky.
Try not to look at sources of light such as your mobile phone or the Moon for around 15 minutes or so, this will allow your eyes become dark adapted. After around 15-30 minutes of letting your eyes adapt to the dark, the pupils of your eyes will dilate to their maximum aperture and the receptors in your eyes that are responsible for low light vision will become fully activated. This will allow your eyes to gather more light and more fainter night sky objects will be easier to see.
If you need to use a torch to light your way, we recommend using a torch that emits only red light. Red light has much less of an effect on your night vision compared to white light.
If you want to use your phone, use it on its lowest brightness and you can always cover the screen with a red film to minimise its effect on your night vision. Star map/planetarium apps such as Stellarium often have a night mode that displays only in red light which can also help you keep your night vision.
Another tip to help you see more on nights with a bright moon or a light nearby to your viewing location is to keep the moon or source of light out of sight. Try to keep the Moon or any lights to your back or if you have a large tree or building nearby to your location, try blocking the moon or any sources of light from your line of sight with the tree/building. This can help stop a bright moon or lights from ruining your dark adapted night vision.
THE MOON / DARK SKIES
Sometimes the glow of the Moon can interfere with a meteor shower and spoil meteor shower views by lighting up the night sky and washing out the fainter meteors. When the Moon is bright it leaves only the brightest of meteors visible.
Unfortunately for this year’s peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, the Moon will be 83% illuminated and in the sky when the radiant for the Eta Aquariids has risen. This means that the skies will be brighter than usual (particularly nearby to the Moon) and fainter meteors may be hard to observe.
ASTRO DOGS RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW BEST TO SEE THE ETA AQUARIIDS
Following the advice above will help you maximise your chances of seeing meteors. But if you want our personal recommendations for this year’s Eta Aquariids:
- Considering the timing of the peak, the radiants location, and the Moon conditions, the best time/date to observe the Eta Aquariids will probably be the early morning of the 6th of May between midnight and dawn. However, due to the good meteor rates of the Eta Aquariids either side of the peak, the mornings for several days after the peak may be good as well (especially with the waning Moon being less illuminated as the days go by).
- Don’t worry if you can’t stay out this late there should still be quite a few meteors around earlier in the night. We have managed to see quite a lot of early Eta Aquariids over the last couple of weeks even with the bright Moon and with the radiant below the horizon.
- Keep your back to the Moon, this will stop the Moon affecting your views as much.
- Meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky, but you are more likely to see meteors around 45 degrees away from the radiant which is located in the constellation of Aquarius.
- Following the above tip, and taking into consideration of the location of the Moon, if you are able to find the constellations of Cygnus the swan, this location in the sky may be a good locations to focus on. If you look just left of Cygnus you will also be looking around 45 degrees away from the radiant of the currently active Eta-Lyrid meteor shower too!
We hope that these tips will help you catch some shooting stars! 😊
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NIGHT SKY THROUGHOUT MAY?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout this month, please head to our YouTube channel to watch our Night Sky Guide video for May 2026.
GENERAL STARGAZING/METEOR SHOWER TIPS
• You don’t need a telescope or any special equipment to view meteors, just your eyes and a bit of patience.
• If you do own binoculars or a telescope, you may want to take a closer look at some of the amazing celestial treats that are currently visible in our night skies. Jupiter with its great weather bands and great red spot, the Pleiades with its faint nebulous glow, the radiant globular cluster in Hercules, and the amazing Andromeda galaxy all are spectacular to view with binoculars or a telescope.
• Find a safe, dark location with clear unobstructed views and with no lights in sight. Even with the Moon in the sky, the less light around you, the more meteors you will see. However, don’t worry too much if you can’t get somewhere dark, you should still see the brighter meteors.
• Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness and you will see more meteors. Our eyes require time to adjust to low levels of light. Try not to look at bright lights (such as a phone) for around 15-30 minutes and this will allow you to see many more meteors. If you do require to use a torch, use one which emits red light as this interferes with your night vision much less than white light.
• Be mindful of other stargazers when using a torch, you don’t want to ruin other people’s meteor shower experience!
• You don’t need to know where the radiant for a meteor shower is to be able to view meteors but if you do, it can help. Once you’ve located the radiant in the sky, looking halfway between the horizon and the zenith (directly upwards), and 45 degrees from the radiant will improve your chances of viewing meteors (however, pay attention to the whole sky as they can appear anywhere). The closer to the radiant you look, the shorter the meteors will appear. The further away from the radiant you look, the longer they will appear.
• You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it appeared to travel in across the sky. If this line leads you to the radiant’s location, you can tell that meteor belonged to that specific meteor shower.
• You might want to take a blanket to lay on or a chair to recline in, so your neck doesn’t get strained whilst looking up.
• If you head out, wrap up well! It can get quite chilly on a night, and if you are not prepared, you may end up being too cold to stay out and see any meteors. Bring a blanket to cover yourself in and a flask with a warm drink for extra comfort. ❄️🧤🧣
• You may wish to gather some of your friends and family to share this magical occasion too. You could always host a meteor watching party with music and drinks (but no bright lights!).
GOOD LUCK AND CLEAR SKIES
The peak of the Eta Aquariids is always a welcome sight in our skies, and even with the Moon out, we are very much looking forward to this year’s meteor shower.
We can’t wait to see if we witness some amazing fireballs and we hope you all get to see some too!
As ever, interactions or shares are a great help, and we are eternally grateful for all your support.
Good luck everyone and clear skies!!! 💖
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