Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Coming To PA Skies In May

PENNSYLVANIA — The Eta Aquariid meteor shower that’s firing off shooting stars right now isn’t the best shower of the year, but there won’t be another one until July.

The long-running meteor shower, which continues through May 28, favors the Southern Hemisphere, so anyone living along the U.S.-Canadian border may see only a smattering of shooting stars.

The American Meteor Society says the Eta Aquariid meteor shower produces a high percentage of persistent trains from the swift shooting stars, but few fireballs

• Related: 2021 Guide To Meteor Showers And Supermoons

The constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer is the radiant point for the shower, but you’ll be able to see meteors in any part of the sky. It’s always best to get as far away from city lights as possible to watch meteor showers.

Also in May, the full corn planting moon on the 26th is a supermoon, the second of three consecutive full moons as our planet’s natural satellite reaches the closest point to Earth (perigee) in its elliptical orbit. The closeness to Earth — keep in mind, our planet and moon are still 226,000 apart at this point — makes the moon appear a bit brighter and larger than usual.

The next meteor shower isn’t until July.

The Delta Aquariids — another long-running shooting star show that runs for more than a month and intersects with the summertime favorite, the Perseids — peaks July 27-30.

This shower also favors the Southern Hemisphere, but skywatchers in the tropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere can count on 15 or 20 meteors an hour during the predawn hours of the peak dates.