The night between the 5 and 6 May It will be possible to observe the splendid weather swarm of Eta Aquaridithe “shooting stars” of the May sky originating from the wake of the Halley cometwhich will reach the peak of activity with up to 50/60 meteors visible per hour. Eta Aquaridi are one of the most abundant and suggestive meteoric shamans of the first part of the year, generated by the passage of the Earth in the wake of debris left by Halley’s comet. The meteoric swarm will be visible, with the naked eye, starting from 3:00 in the morning, with Maximum show expected Between 4 and 5 in the morningwhen the constellation of the aquarium, from whose direction the meteors come, will be sufficiently high on theEast/South-East horizon. The peak temporal window of the ETA Aquaridi is quite large, so the meteors will be copious a few days before and after May 6, providing enough time to organize a trip out of town to observe them in the best way.
What are the eta aquarids and how they originate
The meteoric swarm of the Eta Aquaridi takes its name from radiant from which the meteors seem to come. The latter is in fact found in the Aquarium constellationnear the star Eta aquarii. The meteoric swarm of the ETA Aquaridi is one of the two shamans generated by the passage of the earth through the debris left by Halley comet. The latter has changed its orbit over the centuries, releasing debris in different points of space. Those of the ETA Aquaridi, released by Halley’s comet hundreds of years ago, generate a meteoric rain that is 2/3 times more intense of the other swarm generated by Halley’s comet, the Orionids.
Eta Aquaridi are configured as the Third more abundant weather swarm of the yearwith a meteor rate of approximately 50/60 per hour who enter the atmosphere at a speed of about 230,000 km/h. The period of activity goes from 19 April to 28 May. Although conventionally every year the peak it is around the 5/6 May, In reality, the maximum activity of the weather swarm is very wide, including also a few days before and after the aforementioned dates.
When and where to observe the ages Aquaridi
Given the direction of origin, the Eta Aquarids show tends to encourage observers on horseback of the equator and those of the southern hemisphere. The meteors are still visible also in the north hemisphere, although only A few hours before dawn. The constellation of the aquarium it stands In fact, in the night between the 5 and 6 Mayaround the 3:00 in the morning in the east direction. At that time the observation of the meteors will be very difficult given the low height on the horizon, so you will have to wait at least an hour to start enjoying the celestial show. Around 04:00, in fact, the star Eta Aquarii, from whose direction the meteors seem to come, will have risen to about 20 degrees on the East/South-East horizon.
As the minutes continue, the constellation will raise more and more on the horizon, making the observation of the increasingly spectacular meteoric swarm. However, just on the most beautiful, the sun will rise around 6 in the morning, thus illuminating the sky starting from an hour before, counterbalanced the increased height on the horizon of the constellation. There Best observation band therefore goes from 4 to 5 in the morningwhen, in addition to Eta Aquaridi, Venus will also contribute to that area of sky.Saturn and Neptune, all three enclosed in just 5 degrees of sky.
