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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Morgan Hughes

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower is happening tonight and this is how you can see the Halley's Comet shooting star spectacle

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower travels around Earth once or twice in a person’s lifetime. If you live in an area with low light pollution away from cities the meteor shower will be mostly visible to you.

You will be able to see the Eta Aquarids meteor shower which is the main element of Halley's Comet, it can be seen with the naked eye but you may need to allow up to 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark as it will be darker than usual because of the Moon's cycle.

The comet named Halley’s Comet was named after Edmond Halley, who first discovered the comet. The comet is important as it is the first discovery marked by astronomers which is visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Read more: Eta Aquarid meteor shower will see 50 shooting stars an hour lighting up sky on Friday

Halley's Comet is only visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years, it last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986.

The Eta Aquarids meteor happens every year and it is first visible on April 29 to May 28, but if you're waiting to see Halley’s Comet, that isn't next visible until 2061. However, the tail of the comet, known as the Eta Aquarids meteor shower has left dust and debris in space streaking that can be seen through the sky. The meteor show produces 60 shooting stars which will be seen from the southern hemisphere and roughly 10 50 30 of them will be seen in the northern hemisphere.

According to Royal Observatory Greenwich , the shower will be at peak visibility between midnight on Thursday, May 5 and dawn on Friday, May 6 but will still be seen until May 28.

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