A meteor shower made of debris from Halley’s Comet will be visible Monday night, and those who aren’t able to view the night sky will be able to watch the celestial event live online via free streaming video.
The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to peak on Monday evening (May 5) through Tuesday morning (May 6), with up to 30 meteors per hour visible to those living in the Northern Hemisphere and 60 per hour for those south of the equator.
But in order to see the meteor shower, viewers will need a clear sky away from the bright lights of a city. Luckily, for the large slice of viewers unable to meet these conditions, Space.com is offering live streaming video of the meteor shower.
The broadcast begins a 9 pm EDT on Monday, and will include a lot more than just video. There will also be audio commentary from astronomer Bob Berman.
“What makes this shower somewhat special is that the meteors stem from the most famous comet in all of history, Comet Halley,” Berman said in a statement. “As Halley goes around the sun in its 76-year orbit, pieces of it, little chunks of ice, slough off the comet and we intersect that every year around this time, in early May.”
For people who can’t meet the conditions, this might be a good year to watch the meteor shower online. NASA meteor scientist Bill Cooke said a waxing moon means the skies will be dark with little interference. NASA noted that the best time to see the meteors is between midnight and sunrise, with the peak between 3 am and 5 am in viewers’ local time.
The shower on Monday evening will be a good chance for people who missed out on the Lyrid shower , which peaked two weeks ago on Earth Day. The Lyrid shower was marred by difficult conditions including a bright moon, leaving viewers to see just about 20 meteors per hour.
Those who want to watch the 2014 Eta Aquarid meteor shower live online can click here for streaming video.
