How to watch Eta Acquariids meteor shower in Australia this weekend


How to see the incredible meteor shower crossing over Australian skies this weekend – and why you won’t get a better view of the shooting stars anywhere else in the world

  • Australian stargazers can see a spectacular meteor shower over the weekend
  • The annual Eta Aquariids meteor shower will be most visible on Thursday night 
  • Meteors visible when Earth flies through debris left behind by Halley’s Comet 
  • Streaks of light caused by bits of rock breaking off comet during 1986 journey 

Australian stargazers will be treated to a spectacular light show over the next few days as a meteor shower streaks across the sky.

The annual Eta Aquariids meteor shower will be most visible from the southern hemisphere on Thursday night but can be seen by the naked eye until the end of the week, according to astronomers.

The phenomenon occurs when Earth flies through a cloud of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet during its last journey through the inner solar system in 1986.

The meteors are best viewed in Australia because they rise to about 50 degrees in the sky, which is the best angle from which to view the shooting stars. 

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower will be most visible from the southern hemisphere on Thursday night. File image of the meteor shower pictured

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower will be most visible from the southern hemisphere on Thursday night. File image of the meteor shower pictured

Australian National University astronomer Dr Brad Tucker said the streaks of light hurtling across the night sky were caused by bits of rock that broke off the comet 35 years ago.

‘These chunks of ice and rock hurtle through space at incredible speed and then burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere,’ he told 7News.

‘It makes for an incredible display of streaking, bright lights and is one of the best meteor showers you will see all year.’

He said even those in city locations where light pollution is highest should expect to see as many as 20 shooting stars if they look eastwards between 2.30am and 3am on Friday morning. 

The same timings apply to those looking for the meteor shower on Saturday and Sunday morning.

NASA said the best way to watch the meteor shower is not to use equipment, but to instead find a dark area with limited light pollution and look up.

The show will reach its peak on Thursday May 6 but meteors will be clearly visible in the days before and after the peak

The show will reach its peak on Thursday May 6 but meteors will be clearly visible in the days before and after the peak

REMAINING METEOR SHOWERS IN 2021 

 Eta Aquariids – May 5 peak

Delta Aquariids – July 30 peak

Alpha Capricornids – July 30 peak

Perseids – August  12-13 peak 

Draconids – October 8-9 peak

 Orionids – October 21 peak

Taurids – November 12 peak

Leonids – November 17-18 peak 

Geminids – December 14 peak 

Ursids – December 22-23 peak

A rare green fireball meteor from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower in Florida. NASA has said the best way to watch the meteors is by using the naked eye, not any kind of specialist equipment

A rare green fireball meteor from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower in Florida. NASA has said the best way to watch the meteors is by using the naked eye, not any kind of specialist equipment

The Eta Aquariids are named after the constellation Aquarius as that is where they appear to fall from every April and May – particularly the star Eta Aquarii. 

For stargazers in mid to northern latitudes, the radiant won’t be as high in the sky and fewer rocks will be visible. 

In a post on its website, NASA wrote: ‘The constellation of Aquarius – home to the radiant of the Eta Aquarids – is higher up in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere than it is in the Northern Hemisphere.

‘In the Northern Hemisphere, Eta Aquarid meteors can more often be seen as “earthgrazers”.’

‘Earthgrazers are long meteors that appear to skim the surface of the Earth at the horizon.’ 

WHAT ARE METEORS? 

Meteors are pieces of debris that enter the atmosphere at speeds of up to 148,000 miles per hour – as they do so they vaporise and cause streaks of light.

They are the flashes of dust grains burning in the atmosphere left behind as the Earth passes the path of a comet.

That’s the reason they appear on certain dates and return annually – as these comets are on an orbit and leave debris in certain parts of space. 

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