Meteor showers from Halley’s comet to peak this Friday!
May 4th, 2011 - 6:26 pm ICT by ANIWashington, May 4 (ANI): Sky watchers are in for a treat this week, as a meteor shower showing remnants from Halley’s Comet will pass through the inner solar system after a span of 25 years.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is predicted to peak early Friday morning (May 6), reports Fox News.
Under ideal conditions (a dark, moonless sky) about 30 to 60 of these very swift meteors can be seen per hour. And with a new moon on May 3 this is one of those years when observing conditions will be perfect.
The shower appears at about one-quarter-peak strength for about three or four days before and after May 6.
There is, however, a drawback if you plan to watch for these meteors this year - at least for those watching from north of the equator.
The radiant (the emanation point of these meteors) is at the “water jar” of the constellation Aquarius, which comes above the southeast horizon around 3 a.m. local daylight time, never gets very high as seen from north temperate latitudes, so the actual observed rates are usually much lower than the oft-quoted 30 to 60 meteors per hour.
From North America, typical rates are 10 meteors per hour at 26-degrees north latitude (Brownsville, Texas; Naples, Fla.), half of this at 35-degrees latitude (Albuquerque, N.M.; Chattanooga, Tenn., and practically zero north of 40 degrees (Philadelphia, Penn.; Salt Lake City, Utah).
It is being said that Halley’s Comet that takes roughly 75 years to circle the sun will come again only in the summer of 2061. (ANI)
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