Meteors and Dust Trail © 2009 John Chumack
Hi ALL,
Get ready for another great meteor shower…this one called the Eta Aquarids, as they appear to originate from the South Eastern sky in the Constellation of Aquarius. These Meteors are actually the debri left over from Halley’s Comet.
Even though Comet Halley only visits the inner solar system once every 76 years, it has shed enough dust particles in its orbit that once a year Earth passes through Comet Halley’s tail debri which brings this nice Meteor shower. It is a very consistant shower as you will often see as many as 60 meteors per hour, with long glowing trails.
You will see some meteors starting on the 3rd of May 2009 and maybe until the 10th of May.
The true peak of the shower comes on the morning of the 6th of May, 2009 .
You will need to get out of the city lights for best views, and this is also a very early morning shower, 3am until 6am will be the best time this year.
Once the bright moon sets at 4am, it will be much easier to see the meteors racing out of the southeastern sky, some of the meteors will be moving as fast as 150,000 mph as they hits the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up leaving long glowing trails.
Best Regards,
John Chumack