May 2009 Meteor Shower - Eta Aquarids
When is the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower? This meteor shower is active from April 19th to May 28th this year. Meteor shower gazers could be in for a full seven days of meteor activity, starting May 3rd the Eta Aquarids will produce up to 30 meteors per hour and become more and more active until their peak on May 6th in the hours before dawn. A viewer could possibly see up to 60 meteors per hour during the peak and steady activity of up to 30 meteors per hour until about May 10th.
When and where should one look to see the shower? As with most meteor showers, meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky, but each shower has a distinct radiant and are best viewed before dawn and after midnight in any time zone. The radiant is the point of origin where the meteor’s backward path can be traced. In this case the radiant is the constellation Aquarius. For people living north of the equator, Aquarius is located in the southeastern sky low on the horizon and for south of the equator dwellers one should be looking more to the east but higher in the sky. For southern hemisphere viewers, the planet Venus (appears to be a very bright non-twinkling star) will accompany Aquarius. Aquarius is just above Venus in the early morning hours. There are a few drawbacks to the shower, firstly, Aquarius is relatively low on the horizon and the Moon will be bright in your sky. Sadly, if you live in the northern hemisphere you will not see as many meteors as those who in the southern hemisphere. However, despite a waxing gibbous moon shedding a lot of light into the sky this meteor shower is still worth viewing for meteor enthusiasts and those who live north of the equator.
What is the cause of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower? This display in our May sky is caused by the famous Halley’s Comet that last visited us in 1986, but the shower happens each year around the same time because we pass through Halley’s Comet’s dust trails from centuries and centuries ago. Halley’s Comet is also responsible for the Orionids Meteor Shower that occurs in October.
Are there any other meteor facts associated with the Eta Aquarids meteor shower? Eta Aquarids meteors are really fast and enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a whopping 68 kilometers per second or approximately 152,000 miles per hour! They are usually bright and commonly leave behind smoke trails or persistent trains.
As always I welcome your comments and questions. I enjoy reading and responding. I will try to respond to all the comments, just bookmark the site and check back with me once in a while. Try the meteor glossary if you don’t understand all the terms I use in the posts. There is a meteor shower virtually every month from now until the end of the year.
Here are the dates for the next meteor shower.
η-Aquarids Meteor Shower
Start Date: April 19
Peak Date: May 6
End Date: May 28 – Meteor Mark’s Birthday!
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Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on May 2nd, 2009 at 6:12 am
Saw a really cool fireball yesterday!!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
My first time!!! Saturday May 2nd after 9pm in Orlando, FL. So close to an airplane flying to OIA. Now I am hooked, got my hammock out. Thanks for clarifying the name of my meteor and its history.
on May 4th, 2009 at 7:20 am
i was just outside having a cigarette//its 5:18 am, i saw a Bright White ball ++ sparky trail fall to the north, looked like it was only a few miles away, only saw it for a second or two…
Chandler, Az
on May 4th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Didn’t know we were having a meteor shower, me and my wife were leaving father-in-law’s house when we saw the sky start to light up to a green color around 11:50 pm last night! Even though it was overcast, it made the clouds light up when it passed thru it must have been big as a basketball to light the whole sky up green! Anyhow it was awesome haven’t seen one like it! The last time I saw one was in December of 1999 that one was white and lit up the sky like daylight!
on May 4th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Brad,
That sounds really cool! Pat yourself on the back for knowing it was fireball, most people think we are being invaded. You may want to use the search feature in the right hand corner and search for “colors” I wrote a piece on that a month ago.
Nixk & Michelle,
Thanks for your comment. Don’t forget May 5/6 will be stronger activity from the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower.
Keep your head up. If you’ve enjoyed the site. Have a look at the Meteor Blog Shop and show your support by patronizing the stores and products on MeteorBlog.com
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower Enthusiast
on May 4th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
i live in northern georgia and was wondering if anyone had ideas on the best place to go tomorrow night to watch the meteor shower
on May 4th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Christine,
Meteor showers are best seen in the early hours of the morning before dawn. This shower’s peak in Eastern Daylight Time Zone is between May 5th 8:00PM to May 6th 5:00 AM EDT (Georgia is EDT) for those who know Universal Time, it is peaking at 0h May 6th.
I would suggest finding the safest and darkest area you can find away from may made lights. The area should have a good view of the southeastern sky. The more sky you can see the more meteors you will see.
- Meteor Mark
on May 7th, 2009 at 12:13 am
I will be checking this out from Costa Rica this am, about 2am my time…
on May 7th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Found small meteor remnant on lawn landed evening 06 may – morning 07 may fascinating to look at. 35 x 20mm slightly magnetic. Looks like surface of mars on enlarged photo. I am in n. Lincs. U.K.
on May 7th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Neville,
Wow, so you just stumbled across a meteorite? Is this something that you commonly look for?
- Meteor Mark
on May 11th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Today nearly 1am (moscow time) seen a very big group of objects burning high. It was moving straight above Saratov city and moving to the north.
We watched it for 10-15 minutes and it dissapeared behind the skyline.
Know what was that?
on May 11th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I live in Sarasota Florida – I had no idea we were expecting meteor activity, but I happened to spot two in the last two days, both times Eastward, perhaps a touch to the South. Last night’s spotting was at around 4:45am, VERY bright, and very close compared to the previous one.
Thanks to you & your site for enlightening me on the dates of expected activity; I’ll be sure to tune in more often now.
Now that I have the info, I think I’ll drag myself out to the beach with a few beers this evening to have another crack at it, since it seems that there’s still time to catch more. The last time I saw an actual meteor shower was from Portland, ME in the 80′s – would LOVE to repeat the experience!
Again, thanks!
on May 12th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Sair, any photos?
on May 13th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Sair,
Definitely share some photos, if you have them.
Louis
on May 14th, 2009 at 12:04 am
I saw a fireball around three weeks ago in albuquerque, nm then a week later a meteor. I am on my way back from Denver, co and I saw another fireball in the middle of nowhere while driving….it steamed by then just burst.
on May 14th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Just saw another as I’m entering Abq.