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Eta Aquariid meteor shower in 2015 from the Atacama desert in Chile. Image composed by Yuri Beletsky.
The famous Eta Aquariid meteor shower, one of the main meteor showers of the year, peaks every year in early May. In 2020, the peak centers around May 5. This rain is known to be richer from Earth’s southern hemisphere than from the northern hemisphere. Why?
If you trace the paths of the Eta Aquariid meteorites back into the dome of the sky, you will find that these meteors seem to flow from a asterism, or recognizable star pattern, known as the Water Jug in the constellation Aquarius.
This place in heaven is the radiant point from the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. Meteorites appear to emanate from the vicinity of the Jarro de Agua, before spreading and appearing in all parts of the sky.
The radiating point of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is close to the famous Water Jar asterism of the constellation Aquarius.
Because the water jar is in the Heavenly Ecuador – a large imaginary circle directly above the Earth’s equator – the radiant of the Eta Aquariid rain rises to the east as seen from all over the world. Additionally, radiant increases at approximately the same time worldwide, around 1:40 a.m. local time (2:40 a.m., DST) in early May, around the typical peak shower date.
Then you would think that the shower would be almost the same one seen from everyone.
But is not. The reason it is not is that sunrise comes later to the Southern Hemisphere (where it is autumn in May) and earlier to the Northern Hemisphere (where it is spring in May).
Later, sunrise means more dark weather for observing meteorites. And it also means that the radiant point of the Eta Aquariid rain has the opportunity to climb higher in the sky before sunrise, seen from more southern latitudes. That is why the tropics and temperate southern latitudes tend to see more Eta Aquariid meteors than we do in the mid northern latitudes.
Cruise to a south latitude, anyone?
Everything you need to know: Eta Aquariid meteor shower
Eta Aquariids in 2013 by Colin Legg in Australia.
Bottom line: Everyone can enjoy the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in early May. The best for the southern hemisphere! The peak in 2020 is on or near the morning of May 5.
Read more: EarthSky’s annual meteor shower guide
