Up to 50 shooting stars an hour are expected to light up the night sky during the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. The dazzling display takes place between April 19 and May 28 but will peak this year on Friday (May 6).
The meteor shower is known for its swiftly moving streaks with long trains, according to the American Meteor Society, whizzing through the atmosphere at 41 miles a second.
Experts at Royal Observatory Greenwich say the best time to catch a glimpse of the celestial display – which will be visible all over the world – will be between midnight and dawn on Friday. As with all meteor showers, in order to see the Eta Aquarids it is necessary to find a dark site with an unobstructed view of the sky.
Meteor showers, or shooting stars, are caused when pieces of debris known as meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of around 43 miles per second, burning up and causing streaks of light.
Dr Greg Brown, public astronomy officer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told MailOnline : “In the case of the Eta Aquarids, in ideal conditions you might see up to 50 or 60 meteors per hour – but any real observer will almost always see far less than this. Because this is a shower better seen from southern tropical latitudes, the UK won’t have a great view, but it is still one of the better showers of the year so definitely worth taking a look."
The number of meteors people could see will depend on a variety of factors, from the time of night to the level of background light. A bright sky will drown out the fainter ones making them much more difficult to see.
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