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One of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year, the Eta Aquariids will be visible in Hungary at dawn on Sunday. A small shower of meteors is predicted for this year, and there is unlikely to be another one like this until 2046, the Svábhegy Observatory (in Budapest) reports.
The meteors observed during the Eta Aquariids are known for their speed, as they arrive at about 66 km/s, then suddenly decelerate as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. This year, the meteor shower will reach its maximum at dawn on Sunday.
Instead of an average of 25 meteors, up to 60 per hour can be seen.
The observatory says that it will not be difficult to spot the shooting stars because Earth’s celestial companion will be around the new moon phase, with a lunar crescent of less than six percent. As a result, the richest shower is expected after 2.30 a.m., between 3 and 4 a.m., when the radiant will be above the horizon.
It will be worth looking eastward across the sky and enjoying the May shooting star spectacle from a dark, rural vantage point with a good horizon. Even if it is not clear at dawn on Sunday, there is no need to be discouraged, because the maximum of the Eta Aquariids is prolonged, so
a heavy shower of meteors can be seen in the early hours of the morning, both before and a day or two after.
Halley’s Comet in 1986. Photo: Wikipedia/NASA/W. Liller
The Earth’s orbit intersects the comet’s orbit twice a year, creating two showers of shooting stars. The more intense swarm is Eta Aquariids in May along the descending cluster, and the other is the Orionids in late October along the ascending cluster, only a third as active.
Via MTI, Featured image: Wikipedia/ESO/P. Horalek