Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Peaks May 5-6

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its annual peak overnight from May 5 to 6, offering skywatchers around the world a chance to observe swift streaks of light from debris shed by Halley's Comet as Earth passes through its dusty trail.

Active from April 19 to May 28, the shower produces meteors that appear to radiate from a point near the star Eta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius, low on the eastern horizon before dawn. Particles from the comet enter Earth's atmosphere at speeds of about 65 kilometers per second, creating bright trails and occasional fireballs, according to the American Meteor Society and NASA. Under ideal dark-sky conditions, observers in the Southern Hemisphere can expect up to 50 meteors per hour, while those in the Northern Hemisphere typically see 10 to 30, with some appearing as long "Earthgrazers" skimming the horizon.

This year's peak coincides with a waning gibbous moon at 84 percent illumination, which rises around midnight and may wash out fainter meteors, potentially reducing visible rates to fewer than 10 per hour. The best viewing window remains the predawn hours on May 6, when the radiant is highest and the moon is lower in the sky. The...