The Eta Aquarids is arguably the Northern hemispheres best meteor shower displaying anything from 10-40 meteors per hour. Although this figure doesn’t seem that high compared to some of the bigger meteor showers, Eta Aquarids can for a few days before and after the peak continue to rain down meteors making it a good opportunity for those that can’t make the predicted peak date during the morning of 5th May.

One thing to note, there is an almost full moon in the sky for most of the night, and although it is positioned opposite to the Meteor Shower, orbiting SW to W, the fainter meteors may not be viewable due to the illumination in the sky.

The radiant point will rise into the sky from the East at approx 3 AM and will vanish around 5 AM due to sunrise. Despite the radiant point being low in the sky, it is possible you will see some meteors before the radiant point appears above the horizon, however, the best viewing should be the 2 hours leading up to dawn.

Image shows position on May 5th at 03:38 AM

The meteors are debris that was left in Earth’s orbit from Halley’s comet which orbits the Sun every 74-79 years and was last seen 1986. In 1986, Halley’s comet had an apparent magnitude 2.1, however, if Halley’s comet returns during the predicted date of July 2061 - July 2062 it will be on the same side of the Sun as Earth, this will make observation much better than in 1986 and will have a magnitude of -0.3.