Cooler but still well above normal this week

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Time to roll out your picnic blanket and unfold those lawn chairs: A meteor shower is set to streak across the (very) early morning sky on May 6.

The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to peak early Tuesday morning with meteors flying into Earth's atmosphere at speeds of 40.7 miles per second, 

. Eta Aquarids come from the leftover comet particles, pieces of broken asteroids and other space debris that originate from the famous Halley's Comet, which takes about 76 years to orbit the sun once. 

With the right preparation and an early alarm clock, there will be plenty of opportunities to spot around 50 meteors per hour at the peak of this shower, according to the U.S. space agency.

The moon will set by roughly 3 a.m. on May 6, NASA said, leaving the dark skies at their most ideal condition for meteor spotting until dawn.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can 

 about 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Those living south of the equator will see a far more active sky, thanks to the different viewing location of the Eta Aquarids' radiant — the point in the sky from which meteors appear to originate. For Eta Aquarids, that radiant is the Aquarius constellation, which is higher up in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere than it is in the Northern Hemisphere.

Here are some tips to get the full experience, according to NASA:

Science

Homepage

Jaclyn Diaz

Author

The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is set to peak early on May 6 and will be viewable in the dark predawn skies. 

Fast-moving Eta Aquarid meteor shower to light up the predawn sky

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox