η-Aquarid meteor shower

The η–Aquarid meteor shower will reach its maximum rate of activity on 6 May 2019. Some shooting stars associated with the shower are expected to be visible each night from 24 April to 20 May.

Annual meteor showers arise when the Earth passes through streams of debris left behind by comets and asteroids. As pebble-sized pieces of debris collide with the Earth, they burn up at an altitude of around 70 to 100 km, appearing as shooting stars.

By determining the speed and direction at which the meteors impact the Earth, it is possible to work out the path of the stream through the Solar System and identify the body responsible for creating it. The parent body responsible for creating the η–Aquarid shower is Halley’s comet.

Observing prospects

The maximum rate of meteors expected to be visible is around 40 per hour (ZHR). However, this assumes a perfectly dark sky and that the radiant of the meteor shower is directly overhead. In practice, the number of meteors you are likely to see is lower than this, and can be calculated from the ZHR formula.

From London , the radiant of the shower will appear 24° below your north-eastern horizon at midnight. This means the shower will be unobservable, as the radiant will be below the horizon.

The radiant of the η–Aquarid meteor shower is at around right ascension 22h30m, declination 1°S, as shown by the green cross on the planetarium above. All of the meteors will appear to be travelling directly outward from this point, as indicated by the white lines drawn above.

The Moon will be 2 days old at the time of peak activity, presenting minimal interference.

To see the most meteors, the best place to look is not directly at the radiant itself, but at any dark patch of sky which is around 30–40° away from it. It is at a distance of around this distance from the radiant that meteors will show reasonably long trails without being too spread out.

This entry in the observing calendar was provided by In-The-Sky.org

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