2022 Eta Aquariid meteor shower: All you need to know

Eta Aquariid meteor shower chart for 2022. Notice that the moon and meteor shower radiant point are in different parts of the sky. That’s good! Meteor shower predicted peak times may vary. No need to worry about that for this shower. It has a broad peak, lasting several days. Image via Guy Ottewell.

Especially since April’s Lyrids were drowned in moonlight in 2022, many will watch the Eta Aquariids this year.

When to watch: Especially try the mornings of May 4, 5 and 6, 2022, in the hours before dawn. Why before dawn? See “Radiant” below. The American Meteor Society is listing 4 UTC on May 5 as the shower’s predicted* peak time. But times vary between different experts. And the peak of this shower stretches out over several days. So you can expect elevated numbers of meteors a few days before and after the peak time.
Nearest moon phase: In 2022, first quarter moon will fall at 00:21 UTC on May 9. So the moon is a waxing crescent (setting during the evening) around the mornings of May 4, 5 and 6. That means a moonless sky for peak predawn hours for the Eta Aquariids in 2022.
Radiant: Rises in the wee hours, climbing toward its highest point at dawn. That’s why before dawn is the best time to watch this shower.
Duration of shower: April 15 to May 27.
Expected meteors at peak, under ideal conditions: In the southern half of the U.S., you might see 10 to 20 meteors per hour under a dark sky, with no moon, when the radiant is high in the sky. Farther south – at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere – you might see two to three times that number.
Note: The Eta Aquariids’ radiant is on the ecliptic, which rides low in the sky on spring mornings as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. That’s why this shower favors the Southern Hemisphere. It’s often that hemisphere’s best meteor shower of the year.

Visit EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2022

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: it’s fun and easy!

The radiant point of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is near the star Eta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The radiant rises in the wee hours after midnight and is still climbing toward its highest point at dawn. That highest point is in the south as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, closer to overhead for the Southern Hemisphere. That’s why the Southern Hemisphere sees more meteors (the radiant is higher up), and it’s why – for all of us around the globe – the hours before dawn are best for this shower.

The Eta Aquariids’ parent comet

From Don Machholz, who has discovered 12 comets …

The object responsible for the Eta Aquariid meteor shower – that is, its parent comet – is the famous Halley’s Comet. This comet is in a retrograde orbit around the sun. That means it runs around the sun in the opposite direction from Earth and all the other planets. As a result, we pass near its path twice, one time along the outbound portion of the comet’s orbit. That happens every early May, causing the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. The other time is along the inbound portion of the comet’s orbit, and that passage causes the Orionid meteor shower in late October of each year.

Halley’s Comet orbits the sun on an average of every 76 years (the range is from 74 through 79 years due to perturbations of the planets). So, in most years, the comet is nowhere near when we sweep through its orbit, and when debris left behind by the comet enters our atmosphere to create Halley’s two meteor showers.

Perhaps you saw Halley’s Comet when it returned last, in 1985/86. It has been observed since the year 240 BCE.  Halley’s Comet will be back in 2061. Presently the comet is traveling away from the sun at about 0.6 miles a second (1 km/sec). In the year 2022, Halley’s Comet is beyond the orbit of Neptune.

In December of 2023, the comet will reach its farthest point from the sun that binds it in orbit. Then – pulled inexorably by the sun’s gravity – it will curve around and head back toward the inner solar system again.

While waiting for Halley’s Comet to return, watch for the next best thing: the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in early May.

Halley’s comet, the parent of the May Eta Aquariid and October Orionid meteor showers. Dust from this comet will light the night as Eta Aquariid meteors on the morning of May 5. Image via NASA Blueshift.

More about this shower’s radiant

If you trace the paths of the Eta Aquariid meteors backward, they all seem to radiate from a certain point in front of the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. This point on the sky’s dome is called the radiant of the meteor shower, which nearly aligns with the faint star Eta Aquarii. Hence, this meteor shower gets its name from this star.

Eta Aquarii is one of the four stars making up the Y-shaped Water Jar asterism in the northern part of Aquarius. If you can find the Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius, you’ve as good as located the radiant point for the Eta Aquariid meteors. The alignment of the radiant and the star is, of course, coincidental. Eta Aquarii is some 170 light-years away – trillions upon trillions of miles away – while the Eta Aquariid meteors burn up nearby – only 60 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface.

Meteor shower radiants are sometimes misunderstood by casual meteor-watchers. You don’t need to know where they are to watch a meteor shower. That’s because the meteors fly every which way across the sky, in front of numerous constellations. However, the higher a shower’s radiant appears in your sky, the more meteors you’re likely to see. For the Eta Aquariids, the radiant soars highest in the nighttime sky just before dawn. That’s one of the reasons why you can expect to see the most meteors in the wee morning hours.

A Y-shaped asterism called the Water Jar marks the radiant of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. You can spot it from a dark location.

How to view a meteor shower

As with all meteors in annual showers, no special equipment to watch the Eta Aquariids. But a little luck always helps.

Find a dark, open sky away from artificial lights, and sprawl out on a reclining lawn chair.

Make yourself comfortable with a hot flask of you favorite beverage. Keep warm but not so snug that you fall asleep!

Meteor watching is a lot like fishing. Sometimes you catch a good number of them, and sometimes you don’t.

Eta Aquariid meteor shower photos from EarthSky’s community

You can see the Eta Aquariids’ radiant point – the Water Jar asterism in the constellation Aquarius, visible as a noticeable pattern of 4 stars in the top left – in this photo by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona, on May 4, 2020. Thank you, Eliot!

Meteor captured over Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia, during the 2013 Eta Aquariid shower. Photo by Justin Ng of Singapore. See more photos by Justin Ng.

The 2013 Eta Aquariid meteor shower was fantastic for those observing from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. Colin Legg of Australia created this composite of his experience. He wrote: “Composite of approximately 50 images containing 26 meteors, meteor train, 17% moon, zodiacal light and Pilbara desert.”

Bottom line: What’s a good meteor shower for the Southern Hemisphere? Try the Eta Aquariid shower. We in the Northern Hemisphere can see this shower, too, peaking on the mornings of May 4, 5, and 6, 2022.

*Predicted peak times and dates for 2022 meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary. Back to top

Read more: Why the Eta Aquariids are best from the Southern Hemisphere.

The post 2022 Eta Aquariid meteor shower: All you need to know first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/s1dezlI

Eta Aquariid meteor shower chart for 2022. Notice that the moon and meteor shower radiant point are in different parts of the sky. That’s good! Meteor shower predicted peak times may vary. No need to worry about that for this shower. It has a broad peak, lasting several days. Image via Guy Ottewell.

Especially since April’s Lyrids were drowned in moonlight in 2022, many will watch the Eta Aquariids this year.

When to watch: Especially try the mornings of May 4, 5 and 6, 2022, in the hours before dawn. Why before dawn? See “Radiant” below. The American Meteor Society is listing 4 UTC on May 5 as the shower’s predicted* peak time. But times vary between different experts. And the peak of this shower stretches out over several days. So you can expect elevated numbers of meteors a few days before and after the peak time.
Nearest moon phase: In 2022, first quarter moon will fall at 00:21 UTC on May 9. So the moon is a waxing crescent (setting during the evening) around the mornings of May 4, 5 and 6. That means a moonless sky for peak predawn hours for the Eta Aquariids in 2022.
Radiant: Rises in the wee hours, climbing toward its highest point at dawn. That’s why before dawn is the best time to watch this shower.
Duration of shower: April 15 to May 27.
Expected meteors at peak, under ideal conditions: In the southern half of the U.S., you might see 10 to 20 meteors per hour under a dark sky, with no moon, when the radiant is high in the sky. Farther south – at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere – you might see two to three times that number.
Note: The Eta Aquariids’ radiant is on the ecliptic, which rides low in the sky on spring mornings as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. That’s why this shower favors the Southern Hemisphere. It’s often that hemisphere’s best meteor shower of the year.

Visit EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2022

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: it’s fun and easy!

The radiant point of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is near the star Eta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The radiant rises in the wee hours after midnight and is still climbing toward its highest point at dawn. That highest point is in the south as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, closer to overhead for the Southern Hemisphere. That’s why the Southern Hemisphere sees more meteors (the radiant is higher up), and it’s why – for all of us around the globe – the hours before dawn are best for this shower.

The Eta Aquariids’ parent comet

From Don Machholz, who has discovered 12 comets …

The object responsible for the Eta Aquariid meteor shower – that is, its parent comet – is the famous Halley’s Comet. This comet is in a retrograde orbit around the sun. That means it runs around the sun in the opposite direction from Earth and all the other planets. As a result, we pass near its path twice, one time along the outbound portion of the comet’s orbit. That happens every early May, causing the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. The other time is along the inbound portion of the comet’s orbit, and that passage causes the Orionid meteor shower in late October of each year.

Halley’s Comet orbits the sun on an average of every 76 years (the range is from 74 through 79 years due to perturbations of the planets). So, in most years, the comet is nowhere near when we sweep through its orbit, and when debris left behind by the comet enters our atmosphere to create Halley’s two meteor showers.

Perhaps you saw Halley’s Comet when it returned last, in 1985/86. It has been observed since the year 240 BCE.  Halley’s Comet will be back in 2061. Presently the comet is traveling away from the sun at about 0.6 miles a second (1 km/sec). In the year 2022, Halley’s Comet is beyond the orbit of Neptune.

In December of 2023, the comet will reach its farthest point from the sun that binds it in orbit. Then – pulled inexorably by the sun’s gravity – it will curve around and head back toward the inner solar system again.

While waiting for Halley’s Comet to return, watch for the next best thing: the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in early May.

Halley’s comet, the parent of the May Eta Aquariid and October Orionid meteor showers. Dust from this comet will light the night as Eta Aquariid meteors on the morning of May 5. Image via NASA Blueshift.

More about this shower’s radiant

If you trace the paths of the Eta Aquariid meteors backward, they all seem to radiate from a certain point in front of the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. This point on the sky’s dome is called the radiant of the meteor shower, which nearly aligns with the faint star Eta Aquarii. Hence, this meteor shower gets its name from this star.

Eta Aquarii is one of the four stars making up the Y-shaped Water Jar asterism in the northern part of Aquarius. If you can find the Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius, you’ve as good as located the radiant point for the Eta Aquariid meteors. The alignment of the radiant and the star is, of course, coincidental. Eta Aquarii is some 170 light-years away – trillions upon trillions of miles away – while the Eta Aquariid meteors burn up nearby – only 60 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface.

Meteor shower radiants are sometimes misunderstood by casual meteor-watchers. You don’t need to know where they are to watch a meteor shower. That’s because the meteors fly every which way across the sky, in front of numerous constellations. However, the higher a shower’s radiant appears in your sky, the more meteors you’re likely to see. For the Eta Aquariids, the radiant soars highest in the nighttime sky just before dawn. That’s one of the reasons why you can expect to see the most meteors in the wee morning hours.

A Y-shaped asterism called the Water Jar marks the radiant of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. You can spot it from a dark location.

How to view a meteor shower

As with all meteors in annual showers, no special equipment to watch the Eta Aquariids. But a little luck always helps.

Find a dark, open sky away from artificial lights, and sprawl out on a reclining lawn chair.

Make yourself comfortable with a hot flask of you favorite beverage. Keep warm but not so snug that you fall asleep!

Meteor watching is a lot like fishing. Sometimes you catch a good number of them, and sometimes you don’t.

Eta Aquariid meteor shower photos from EarthSky’s community

You can see the Eta Aquariids’ radiant point – the Water Jar asterism in the constellation Aquarius, visible as a noticeable pattern of 4 stars in the top left – in this photo by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona, on May 4, 2020. Thank you, Eliot!

Meteor captured over Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia, during the 2013 Eta Aquariid shower. Photo by Justin Ng of Singapore. See more photos by Justin Ng.

The 2013 Eta Aquariid meteor shower was fantastic for those observing from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. Colin Legg of Australia created this composite of his experience. He wrote: “Composite of approximately 50 images containing 26 meteors, meteor train, 17% moon, zodiacal light and Pilbara desert.”

Bottom line: What’s a good meteor shower for the Southern Hemisphere? Try the Eta Aquariid shower. We in the Northern Hemisphere can see this shower, too, peaking on the mornings of May 4, 5, and 6, 2022.

*Predicted peak times and dates for 2022 meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary. Back to top

Read more: Why the Eta Aquariids are best from the Southern Hemisphere.

The post 2022 Eta Aquariid meteor shower: All you need to know first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/s1dezlI