Joe Rao is Space.com's skywatching columnist, as well as a veteran meteorologist and eclipse chaser who also serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications.
A rare green fireball meteor from the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower streaks through the sky above Babcock Wildlife Management Area near Punta Gorda, Florida on May 7, 2019.It has been 38 years since Halley's Comet last passed through the inner solar system. This famous comet takes roughly 75 years to circle the sun. But if you're 42 years old or younger, you probably have little or no memory of the 1986 appearance of this famous cosmic vagabond .
This year, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is predicted to be at its best on Sunday morning, May 5, when the moon is a very thin waning crescent and safely out of harm's way to cause any disruption to visibility. That means the actual observed rates are usually lower than the oft-quoted 60 per hour; closer to 10 to 20 per hour at around latitude 40-degrees north to perhaps 20 to 40 per hour near latitude 25-degrees north .
According to Dr. Egal and her colleagues, material that was shed by Halley's Comet, primarily in 983 B.C., with several smaller particle ejections from the 1058 B.C., 835 B.C. and 314 B.C. comet apparitions, augmented by close interactions of these meteoroids with the gravitational pull ofEarth is expected to pass closest to this"rubble river" at around 13:30 UT on May 5.
With the prediction of enhanced activity on the table for Sunday , you might have a better chance of seeing more than a few Earthgrazers in the hour or two prior to the first light of dawn. If you plan to look, try settling down on a long lounge or deck-chair, dress warmly and concentrate on that area of the sky from overhead and down toward the southeast. Consider also trying again on Monday morning if your local skies are clear.
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