Now that the weather has warmed up, it's a good weekend to look for shooting stars. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower will be at its peak.
Though folks in the Southern Hemisphere will see the most meteors — up to 60 per hour — we'll still see 10 to 30 meteors an hour up here in the Northern Hemisphere, AccuWeather said.
There is no sharp peak for this shower, but rather a plateau of good rates that last approximately one week centered on May 6, according to Robert Lunsford of the International Meteor Association.
"Sunday night may prove to be the most active night," AccuWeather astronomy blogger Dave Samuhel said.
Eta Aquarid meteors, also known as the Aquarids, are known for their speed, according to NASA. These meteors are swift — traveling at about 148,000 mph into Earth's atmosphere. Fast meteors can leave glowing "trains" (bits of debris in the wake of the meteor) that last for several seconds to minutes.
A few fireballs are also possible during the shower, Space.com said.
"Give yourself at least an hour of viewing time for watching any meteor shower," said Bruce McClure of EarthSky.org. "Meteors tend to come in spurts that are interspersed by lulls. Also, it can take as long as 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
"You need no special equipment to watch a meteor shower, but a little luck always helps," McClure said.
Weatherwise, the best viewing conditions are expected to be across the central and southwestern U.S., AccuWeather said. One problem for everyone, regardless of the weather: The light of the waning gibbous moon will interfere with seeing the shower, according to Sky and Telescope.
The name of the Eta Aquarid meteors comes from tracing their paths backward. They seem to radiate from the constellation Aquarius, according to EarthSky. In particular, they come from the faint star Eta Aquarii; the meteor shower is named in honor of this star.
The Eta Aquarid is one of Earth's two meteor showers that come from the debris trail of the famed Halley's Comet. The other is the Orionid meteor shower, which occurs each October.
The meteors are pieces of dust and ice from the comet.