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Month Long Meteor Shower! Thank You Haley’s Comet

Published by Robert Witham at
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Meteor showers are cool. A meteor shower provides an amazing light show, and each one is truly a one of a kind experience. The only trouble with meteor showers is that you have to watch them at night—often very late at night. This means many people who would just love to see a meteor shower end up missing the chance because of annoying details like sleep.

This spring brings good news for sleepy meteor-shower groupies. The Earth will be passing through the tail of Hailey’s Comet resulting in a month-long meteor shower. This shower, which is knows as the Eta Aquarids, will be visible in the skies from  April 20 through May 21. The most meteor activity is expected to be visible between May 5-7 because the sky will be dark on these nights.

How To Watch

There are several things you can do to make sure you enjoy the best possible meteor shower viewing.

Stay up very, very late or plan to get up very, very early. The best viewing will be during the early morning hours before dawn when the skies are darkest.
Plan on at least one hour to watch the meteor showers. It takes time for our eyes to adjust to the darkness, and meteor displays tend to come in bursts.
These meteor showers will not require telescopes or any fancy equipment. The show will be visible to anyone who is watching

Where To Watch

Where you decide to watch the meteor showers can make a big difference in how many meteors you are able to see.

Travel as far away from light pollution as possible. City lights will make it difficult to see the meteor shower.
Travel to the Southern Hemisphere. (Okay, this may not be practical for many people, but if you happen to have some airline reward program mileage that you need to use…). Meteor watchers in the Southern Hemisphere will be treated to as many as 30 meteors every hour. Northern Hemisphere viewers may only see 10 per hour.

 

Have you ever seen a meteor shower? Are you planning to watch these showers?

Additional Image: astrocatblog

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Robert Witham
Robert Witham
A freelance writer and journalist, I am also a wandering minimalist. I never sit still for too long in one place. When I am not writing I can be found reading, enjoying a good cup of coffee, hiking, fishing, installing a new OS on my laptop, or building a website.