2024-05-08 06:55:53
As the Earth moves around the Sun, it crosses streams of dust and debris from comets and asteroids, creating what is known as a meteor shower. This phenomenon occurs when debris from a comet enters the Earth’s atmosphere and typically burns up.
Comet Halley (officially known as 1P/Halley) completes its orbit around the Sun approximately every 76 years and has spent thousands of years en route.
Each time a comet passes through the inner solar system, it expels dust and gas. This dust then slowly spreads through space, creating a wide swath of debris along the comet’s orbit.
The Earth crosses this band twice a year, producing two famous meteor showers. In October we have the Orionids, visible from both hemispheres and well known.
But the most impressive of the two is the Eta Aquarids, which reaches its peak in early May. Earth begins encountering debris in mid-April and spends about six weeks traversing the wide stream of debris left behind by the comet.
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower is made up of debris kicked up by Halley’s Comet and is best observed in the southern hemisphere. This year it promises to be especially spectacular, as it coincides with the New Moon. Therefore, the sky will be dark in the hours before dawn, creating ideal conditions for viewing meteor showers from fragments of this famous comet.
According to scientists, this shower may be more active than usual and become the most powerful meteor shower of the 21st century.