Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Peak: How To See It In Washington

SEATTLE — The Eta Aquariid meteor shower that’s firing off shooting stars right now isn’t the wildest shower of the year, but there won’t be another one until July. So, if the weather cooperates in Washington, several nights of stargazing await this coming week.

The Eta Aquariids — sometimes just“Aquarids” — peak overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, reliably producing about 10 or 20 meteors an hour. 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.

During the peak, the National Weather Service forecasts partly cloudy skies over the Puget Sound, so there should be opportunities to see the meteors streak through the sky.

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

As with most meteor showers, the best Eta Aquariids viewing time is around dawn Wednesday, but don’t rule out Tuesday and Thursday mornings, EarthSky.org says, explaining the shower “has a broad maximum, so you might see a lot of meteors on those mornings, too.”

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

The waning crescent moon, which rises around dawn, shouldn’t be too big of a problem. It will throw some light Tuesday morning, but won’t shine so brightly during the Wednesday morning peak or on Thursday morning. The moon will join Jupiter and Saturn in the southeast sky Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

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 — though "closeness" is relative, our planet and moon are still 226,000 apart at this point — makes the moon appear a bit brighter and larger than usual.

If you miss this week's show, 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.

Patch staffer Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.