Haley's Comet is the best known of all the comets. It is a Comet that few of us will ever see again in our lifetime. However we can get to see bits of it as they burst into our atmosphere in the form of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower each May.
Check out the full story in my article at
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=1144748The maps below will help you to find where in the sky this shower radiates from.
Northern Hemisphere View 3:30 am
Southern Hemisphere View 3:30am
UPDATE 5-5:I went out to observe the Eta Aquarids with fellow Gove Amateur Astronomers club member "Notch" this morning, and with a dark North Eastern sky vantage point, looking out over the Arafura Sea from 4:35 to 5:35 am we had a good setting.
I dont know about anyone else, but I find kicking back, relaxing and taking in a good meteor shower very inspiring, bringing a hightened sense of awareness of my surroundings.
It's hard not to be inspired with the music of the morning as waves tumble against the sand and the crickets sing their morning song.
It was Amazing to see just how bright the Zodiacal light gets, rising up from the eastern horizon for up to 1 hour before first light ! At one point it seemed to outshine the light dome from the nearby town of Nhulunbuy.
As usual the Meteors came in bursts of 3 or 4 in a minute.
One sporadic meteor was very impressive, traveling from south to north at the zenith. It was as bright as a welding flash (or so it seemed to my dark adapted eyes) and left a smoking train that persisted for at least 30 seconds.
Anyhow at 5:35am the final count was
45 confirmed Eta AquaridsI am looking forward to tomorrow morning (the predicted peak) and what that might bring.
Leave a comment here and tell the world about your Eta Aquarid experience.
