The next meteor shower is in June: The June Bootids

- Meteor Mark

I wish I could definitively say, “yes”. But I will answer with a “maybe”. The Eta Aquarids are active until May 28th. The radiant is currently located in the southeast on the horizon. I am not saying that “Eta-A” meteors will only be in the southeast, but if you trace their backward path to Aquarius then we might assume they are Eta Aquarid meteors. Eta Aquarid meteors seem to streak really quickly in relation to other meteors and tend to be very bright as well.

Antihelion Source meteors also occur in May, though these might be credited to sporadic sightings too. Not all meteors are attributed to a comet, however in most cases meteor showers are. Unfortunately I would have to see them with my own eyes to be firmer with my answer.

Hope this helps.

Keep your head up,

- Meteor Mark

Sometimes the kind of entries you are describing are satellite related, last time i heard of anything close to your description was when the the Russian space station Mir that was launched on February 20, 1986. entered the northern hemisphere on July 11, 1979 – I know there was some debris predicted to enter on the 12 and 13th March 2009 355 debris fragments from the collision between the Russian Cosmos 2251 and the US Iridium 33 satellites are being tracked by US Strategic Command. Could be something they didn’t see related to the incident though. Read more about that here

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/10/debris-from-satellite-collision-to-start-entering-earths-atmosphere/

Then again that could have well been a part of Haley’s trail also, as i suspect my sighting to be a part of the eta Aquarids shower of 5-6 May 2009

I do hope this helps you explain to your son, your shared account of objects entering the soviet skies, but hopefully M Mark will reply soon with more than i could.

I have a pertinent question for Mark Also.

I reside in the Canadian capital Ottawa (WGS84 45° 25′ 15″ N, 75° 41′ 24″ W) and i witnessed three entries on the 23rd between 2 and 4 am (those times are Eastern Standard Times -5 GMT) – I wasn’t out there for long (the time to smoke a cigarette) but these observations where made on two separate instances. Leading me to believe and ask, are these part of the eta Aquarids shower of 5-6 May 2009? could these be part of Haley’s trail? Any and all comments would be appreciated. I just want confirmation that there were unexpected showers last night or that they are satellite related as i explained to Alex above? Oh i was looking at the western sky at the time of the sightings.

Thanks in advance for your time and attention in this matter.

Me too. It may be active until the 10th.

Keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark

The short answer is the more sky you can see the better chance you have of seeing meteors, they can be seen anywhere in the sky. Refer to the meteor glossary here on the site and view the term radiant.

Because the radiant is low on the horizon, we lose some of the meteors that would be streaking away from the radiant below the horizon.

- Meteor Mark

Earlier? as in after 3am? Yes. There is a misconception that meteor showers are a night time viewing event. They are actually a morning event. The meteor shower viewing page on this site has some links to other articles like “when to look” and the glossary may give you some more information. Just make sure your viewing session takes place when it is darkest and you are in a safe place away from man made lights.

Do me a favor, stop by the site if you see any meteors and let me know. I am always up to read what people see.

Keep your head up.

- Meteor Mark

Yes, take a look at my last blog post. Both London and Hamburg are in the northern hemisphere so you will be able to view this shower. However, those in the southern hemisphere will see more meteors.

Thanks for your comment and let me know if you see anything.

Keep your head up.

- Meteor Mark

Meteor Shower – Eta Aquarids – Information