Eta Aquariids meteor bathe: When and the place you may see it within the UK

May 05, 2023 at 3:41 PM

The Eta Aquariid meteor bathe is predicted to peak within the early hours of Saturday 6 May.

It’s time to camp out, collect your sleeping luggage and put together for an evening of stargazing, as you would possibly be capable of see a spectacular show of 120-160 taking pictures stars per hour.

The Eta Aquariids happen when the Earth passes via the particles path of Comet Halley.

Here’s all the things it’s good to know.

When is the Eta Aquariids meteor bathe this yr?

According to Royal Museums Greenwich, the meteor bathe is energetic between 19 April and 28 May however will peak between midnight and daybreak on 6 May this yr.

Bill Cooke, lead of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office on the company’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, mentioned: “A meteor shower is like a normal rain shower, with 50-60 meteors per hour.

“An outburst is sort of a thunderstorm, with better than regular meteor exercise anticipated. A meteor storm is sort of a twister, the place meteor charges are over one thousand per hour.”

Where does Eta Aquariids get its name from?

The Eta Aquariids usually peak during early May each year and are known for their speed.

Eta Aquariid gets its name from the constellation in the night sky that it appears to radiate from – the Aquarius constellation.

But instead of being called the Aquarid meteor shower, the name comes from one of the stars from this constellation, Eta Aquarii.

The Eta Aquariid is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley.

Halley’s Comet is visible from Earth once every 76 years or so.

“The items of area particles that work together with our environment to create the Eta Aquarids originate from comet 1P/Halley,” the NASA website has said.

Comet Halley was first discovered by English Astronomer Edmund Halley in 1705.

He predicted the orbit of the comet through past observations of comets, suggesting that these sightings were, in fact, all the same comet.

Halley is known to be the most famous comet and was last seen in 1986.

Nasa said it will return in 2061 on its regular 76-year journey around the Sun.

How can I see it in the UK?

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower can be viewed in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but NASA has said that the highest visibility will be in the Southern Hemisphere.

“This is because of the radiant’s location within the constellation of Aquarius. Meteors will likely be observable after midnight, however the peak occasions are 3-4 am till daybreak,” NASA said.

The Royal Museums Greenwich website says: “This bathe favours the Southern Hemisphere and can seem low within the sky for northerly latitudes (such because the UK) within the early predawn hours.”

In order to get the best view, here’s what you can do:

• Be sure to check the weather forecast! If it is cloudy, try a day before or after the peak viewing period.

The Met Office has said Friday will be a day of sunshine and showers.

Saturday will be another cloudy and wet day for many across the UK.

So be sure to prepare in advance if you want to catch the Eta Aquariid meteor shower.

NASA has also advised people to:

• Get as far away from city lights as possible to get the best view of the meteor shower.

• Give yourself 30 minutes in the dark for your eyes to adapt.

• Do not look at your phone – again, stay away from the light.

• Try not to look at the moon.

And last but not least, get comfy! For the best stargazing method, lie down and watch the night sky.

What is a meteor bathe?

Simply put, a meteor shower is a space rock or meteoroid entering Earth’s atmosphere.

“As the area rock falls towards Earth, the resistance-or drag-of the air on the rock makes it extraordinarily scorching. What we see is a ‘taking pictures star.’

“That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere,” NASA has mentioned.

“When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, we call it a meteor shower,” it provides.

Here are some meteor showers over time