So you can see how the sky lights up – Enseñame de Ciencia

This year’s Eta Aquarids meteor shower could be particularly impressive with 120 to 160 meteors expected per hour.

Each year, the Eta Aquarids meteor shower is generally active from April to May, peaking earlier this month. According to NASA, This time is especially suitable as it can reach the staggering figure of 160 meteors per hour, while the usual thing is that around 60 meteors can be seen.

The Eta Aquarid meteorites are remnants of Halley’s comet and are known to travel very quickly, at 66 km/s, toward Earth’s atmosphere. This is great for observers, as fast-moving meteors can leave bright “trains” in the sky lasting from several seconds to minutes. This is the best night to observe it and between 120 and 160 meteors per hour are expected!

A negative thing about this meteor shower is that the extreme point only coincides with the full moon, which can be affected by brightness, thus overshadowing weak meteorites. However, the rate of expected meteorites is too high to miss.

“Meteor showers are like a normal shower, at a rate of 50-60 meteors per hour,” Bill Cook said in a statement, chief of NASA’s Office of Meteorite Environments at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The explosion is like a thunderstorm, where the activity of a meteor is expected to be higher than usual. The meteor storm is like a whirlwind, where the speed of meteorites is more than a thousand per hour.

How and when do we see it?

His radiation is constellation Aquarius, so you should be looking in that direction. Also, you have to keep in mind that you need clear skies free of light pollution. Its peak is tonight, May 4-5. It is recommended to see him around It’s three o’clock in the morning your local timeor when the moon descends on the horizon.

According to NASAThe Eta Aquarids meteor shower can be seen in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, although observers in the Southern Hemisphere have a better view. The space agency also states that meteors can be observed after midnight, but the hours of greatest intensity will be between 3 and 4 a.m. until dawn.

Before looking for meteors, consider putting yourself in a dark, clear place, and prepare your eyes for at least half an hour. be patient and avoid any contact with light or devices that emit light (such as cell phones) during that time; In this way, your eyes will prepare and you will be able to better enjoy the event.

How are Eta Aquarids produced?

The pieces of space rock that interact with our atmosphere to create the Eta Aquarids come from 1P / Halley’s Comet. According to NASAEvery time Halley returns to the inner solar system, its core scatters a crust of ice and rock into space. The dust grains end up as Eta Aquarids in May and Gorionids in October if they collide with Earth’s atmosphere.