By Faiza Saqib, News reporter @Faiza__Saqib<\/p>\n
Friday 5 May 2023 10:34, UK <\/p>\n
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected to peak in the early hours of Saturday 6 May.<\/p>\n
It's time to camp out, gather your sleeping bags and prepare for a night of stargazing, as you might be able to see a spectacular display of 120-160 shooting stars per hour.<\/p>\n
The Eta Aquariids occur when the Earth passes through the debris trail of Comet Halley.<\/p>\n
Here's everything you need to know.<\/p>\n
When is the Eta Aquariids meteor shower this year?<\/p>\n
According to Royal Museums Greenwich, the meteor shower is active between 19 April and 28 May but will peak between midnight and dawn on 6 May this year.<\/p>\n
Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said: \"A meteor shower is like a normal rain shower, with 50-60 meteors per hour.<\/p>\n
\"An outburst is like a thunderstorm, with greater than normal meteor activity expected. A meteor storm is like a tornado, where meteor rates are over one thousand per hour.\"<\/p>\n
Where does Eta Aquariids get its name from? <\/p>\n
The Eta Aquariids usually peak during early May each year and are known for their speed.<\/p>\n
Eta Aquariid gets its name from the constellation in the night sky that it appears to radiate from - the Aquarius constellation.<\/p>\n
But instead of being called the Aquarid meteor shower, the name comes from one of the stars from this constellation, Eta Aquarii.<\/p>\n
The Eta Aquariid is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley.<\/p>\n
Halleys Comet is visible from Earth once every 76 years or so.<\/p>\n
\"The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Eta Aquarids originate from comet 1P\/Halley,\" the NASA website has said.<\/p>\n
Comet Halley was first discovered by English Astronomer Edmund Halley in 1705.<\/p>\n
He predicted the orbit of the comet through past observations of comets, suggesting that these sightings were, in fact, all the same comet.<\/p>\n
Halley is known to be the most famous comet and was last seen in 1986.<\/p>\n
Nasa said it will return in 2061 on its regular 76-year journey around the Sun.<\/p>\n
How can I see it in the UK?<\/p>\n
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower can be viewed in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but NASA has said that the highest visibility will be in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
\"This is due to the radiant's location in the constellation of Aquarius. Meteors will be observable after midnight, but the peak times are 3-4 am until dawn,\" NASA said.<\/p>\n
The Royal Museums Greenwich website says: \"This shower favours the Southern Hemisphere and will appear low in the sky for northerly latitudes (such as the UK) in the early predawn hours.\"<\/p>\n
In order to get the best view, here's what you can do:<\/p>\n
Be sure to check the weather forecast! If it is cloudy, try a day before or after the peak viewing period.<\/p>\n
The Met Office has said Friday will be a day of sunshine and showers.<\/p>\n
Saturday will be another cloudy and wet day for many across the UK.<\/p>\n
So be sure to prepare in advance if you want to catch the Eta Aquariid meteor shower.<\/p>\n
NASA has also advised people to:<\/p>\n
Get as far away from city lights as possible to get the best view of the meteor shower.<\/p>\n
Give yourself 30 minutes in the dark for your eyes to adapt.<\/p>\n
Do not look at your phone - again, stay away from the light.<\/p>\n
Try not to look at the moon.<\/p>\n
And last but not least, get comfy! For the best stargazing method, lie down and watch the night sky.<\/p>\n
Read more from Sky News:World's first artificial shooting star displayElon Musk 'wrong' to call for pause in development of AI<\/p>\n
What is a meteor shower?<\/p>\n
Simply put, a meteor shower is a space rock or meteoroid entering Earth's atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\"As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance-or drag-of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot. What we see is a 'shooting star.'<\/p>\n
\"That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere,\" NASA has said.<\/p>\n
\"When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, we call it a meteor shower,\" it adds.<\/p>\n
Here are some meteor showers over the years<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more here:<\/p>\n
Eta Aquariids meteor shower: When and where you can see it in the UK - Sky News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Faiza Saqib, News reporter @Faiza__Saqib Friday 5 May 2023 10:34, UK The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected to peak in the early hours of Saturday 6 May. It's time to camp out, gather your sleeping bags and prepare for a night of stargazing, as you might be able to see a spectacular display of 120-160 shooting stars per hour. The Eta Aquariids occur when the Earth passes through the debris trail of Comet Halley Continue reading