Halley's comet won't be back until 2061—but we pass through its debris every year, which shows up in the night sky as the eta Aquariid meteor shower. Your best time for skywatching will be about 3am (local time) on Friday, May 6:
in Huntsville, Alabama. “Earth is bombarded every day by millions of bits of interplanetary detritus speeding through our solar system.”
“It’s a perfect opportunity for space enthusiasts to get out and experience one of nature’s most vivid light shows,” Cooke said.First up, on the night of May 5 and early hours of May 6, around 3:00 am CDT, is the eta Aquariid shower, caused by the annual encounter with debris from Halley’s comet – remnants of the comet’s tour through the solar system once every 75 or 76 years.
“It will be interesting to see if the rates are low this year, or if we will get a spike in numbers before next year’s forecast outburst,” Cooke said. Back in 1930, German observers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann discovered a comet known as 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, or “SW3, which orbited the Sun every 5.4 years. Being so faint, SW3 wasn’t seen again until the late 1970s, seeming pretty normal until 1995, when astronomers realized the comet had become about 600 times brighter and went from a faint smudge to being visible with the naked eye during its passage.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
When to see the May meteor shower and lunar eclipseAn annual spring meteor shower known as the Eta Aquarids will be reaching its peak of activity this week, followed by the first of two lunar eclipses in 2022.
Read more »
Coronavirus in Colorado: COVID-19 updates for May 2-May 8, 2022More than 1,385,100 people in Colorado have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 62,000 have been hospitalized as of Monday, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Read more »
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower will dazzle this weekThe Eta Aquariids meteor shower, which originated from Halley's Comet, will peak on during the early morning hours of May 5, and those in the Southern Hemisphere will get the best view.
Read more »
Where is the best place to watch the Eta Aquariids meteor showerThe Eta Aquariids meteor shower, which originated from Halley's Comet, will peak on during the early morning hours of May 5, and those in the Southern Hemisphere will get the best view.
Read more »
Dazzling Eta Aquarid meteor shower happens this week, and you can watch it liveSky watchers can get a great glimpse of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower as it fills the night sky later this week.
Read more »
Spring’s last meteor shower peakingThe Eta Aquarids are known for producing 10-30 shooting stars per hour during peak.
Read more »