Eta Aquarids

Look for the next big meteor show on the morning of Monday, May 5.

The Eta Aquarid meteors are debris left behind by Halley's Comet and are active from mid-April until the end of May. Best viewing opportunity will be before dawn this coming Monday. The new moon will create good, dark sky conditions. Astronomers also think this year's shower will produce twice the normal activity, which has its radiant near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius.

Typically, the Etas rate about 30 meteors per hour and is obscured as the radiant doesn't come overhead before dawn. The theory is that the shower's activity rises and falls based on interaction from Jupiter, which orbits the sun in about 12-years and creates a 12-year cycle for the Etas.

Optimal viewing for the shower is in the Southern Hemisphere and declines as you go north. However, due to the expectation of greater-than-normal activity and the bonus of no moon interference, even Northern viewers should be able to see a good show. EA meteors follow long paths, leave trails and average a magnitude of 3. Streaks should be easily visible. Early morning (also possible on May 4th and 6th, but with less meteor frequency), look to the southeast and, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, close to the horizon. You can orient yourself with this great tool.

You can hear Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Francis Reddy discuss the background of this shower in this podcast.

In other Astronomy news, researchers looking at the past have discovered nine young and very compact galaxies. These galazies are a fraction of the size of today's mature galaxies, but contain as many stars.