March and April 2020 have proven to be a boon for star gazers, as the night and morning sky has been offering some spectacular views of meteor showers, planet alignments and constellations.?
All these are more clearly visible owing to the lack of pollution because of the coronavirus lockdown. The beginning of May comes with another shower of meteors that are not difficult to spot.?
According to a forecast, the greatest number of Eta Aquariid meteors will fall before dawn on (or near) May 5. However, since the moon is waxing, it might become a little difficult to spot the meteor shower in the night. Therefore it is recommended to look for it before sunup on May 1, 2 and 3. Fewer meteors will be flying then, but there will be a larger moon-free window between moonset and dawn.
This particular shower usually favors the Southern Hemisphere, and is one of the finest showers of the year there?- in a year when the moon isn’t hindering the show. However, it is also visible in some mid-northern latitudes.?
In a dark sky the Eta Aquariids can produce up to 20 to 40 meteors per hour. From mid-northern latitudes, you might witness about 10 meteors per hour.
First thing you need to know is that the Eta Aquariid shower extends on either side of its peak morning of May 5, 2020. In 2017, veteran meteor expert Robert Lunsford, wrote for International Meteor Organization, ‘There is no sharp peak for this shower, but rather a plateau of good rates that last approximately one week centered on May 6’.?
So, in 2020, there is hope that some meteors will be flying in the early morning hours on May 1, 2 and 3.
Generally, the best time to watch these fast and often bright meteors is in the hour or two before the onset of morning twilight.
As a rule you should give yourself at least an hour of viewing time for watching any meteor shower. Meteors tend to gush but there are intermittent lulls. Also, it can take up to 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
If luck favors you, you don’t need any special equipment to watch the meteor shower. A dark open sky, lack of artificial lights is mostly what you need.?
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower is named after the brightest star of Aquarius constellation - Eta Aquarii. The seem to emerge from a single point in the constellation. It is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley.