Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Peak: Will ‘Outburst’ Be Visible Over VA?

VIRGINIA — The Eta Aquariids meteor shower has been going on since mid-April, but this weekend’s peak should be special, sky conditions in Northern Virginia allowing.

The shower peaks overnight Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5. The weekend weather forecast is not good, with cloudy skies with showers likely on Saturday night, and mostly cloudy skies on Sunday night. We'll see if conditions improve over the weekend.

A few things make the Eta Aquariids a shooting star show to watch. First, the moon, which mostly washed out the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, shouldn’t be a problem. The waning crescent moon will have set during peak pre-dawn viewing hours.

Second, 2024 could be a great year for an “outburst” with the potential for meteors to fly at a rate of about one a minute. That’s more likely in the Southern Hemisphere, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com, but if it happens, it will still be impressive in the Northern Hemisphere.

Also, the Eta Aquariids — sometimes spelled Aquarids with a single “i” — are usually a good show because they’re fast, traveling through the sky at around 148,000 miles an hour. They are known for producing fireballs with glowing trains that can last for several seconds to minutes, according to NASA.

Under clear, dark skies in the Northern Hemisphere, the Eta Aquariids normally produce up to 30 meteors per hour.

The shower, which started April 15 and rambles on through May 27, intersected for a time with the fireball-producing Lyrids, which ended Monday.

The prolific Perseids meteor shower in August is Cooke’s top pick for meteor showers to watch, but the Eta Aquariids are easily No. 2 because of the potential for an outburst. The Geminids, which peak Dec. 13, are the expert’s No. 3 pick. Cooke said that despite strong interference from the moon, a large number of bright meteors should still be visible.

• Related: 2024 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons And Full Moons

Outbursts, or meteor storms as these events are sometimes called, are caused by particles ejected by Comet Halley, the parent of the Eta Aquariids, around 390 B.C. The Eta Aquariids rank about No. 6 among meteor showers in the number of bright meteors and fireballs.

The Eta Aquariids appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer, the 10th largest in the sky but still difficult to find with the naked eye because none of its stars are especially bright. The brightest one, Sadalsuud, or Beta Aquarii, is a rare yellow supergiant with a mass almost five times that of the sun. It’s relatively young for a star at 110 million years, and is about 600 light-years away.

Don’t get hung up on trying to find the constellation, though. Meteors can come from any direction. Dress warmly, fill a Thermos with coffee or some other warm beverage, and take a reclining lawn chair and blankets to your dark sky location. Give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness, then sit back and enjoy.

If all of that isn’t reason enough to get up early, consider this: The Eta Aquariids are the last chance to look for meteors until the Delta Aquariid meteor shower in late July. It runs for more than a month and intersects with the summertime favorite, the Perseids.