As Earth tumbles through the tail of the famed Halley's comet, we are in the midst of an annual meteor shower that will peak on Thursday with dozens of meteors per hour.
Known as the Eta Aquarids, many of these meteors will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere, each about the size of a grain of rice, according to Business Insider. This meteor shower is expected to last from April 20 through May 21, but the peak will occur Thursday night, the report added.
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Cloud Cover for Meteor Shower
“If you blink, you’re not going to see them. They move that fast,” NASA Meteoroid Environment Office astronomer Bill Cooke told the New York Times. Because the meteors move at a speed of 148,000 miles per hour, the Times also said, it will be one of the fastest meteor showers of the year.
National Geographic notes that the meteor shower was appropriately named because the meteors will seem to come from the eastern part of the sky, where Aquarius is located this time of year.
At its peak, there will be as many as 30 fireballs streaking across the sky during the meteor shower, astronomers told National Geographic. In the Northern Hemisphere, skywatchers will not see as many, but there's still a chance for North Americans to see as many as 20 per hour. Also beneficial will be the new moon that will darken the sky even more, allowing for maximum meteor spotting, according to EarthSky.
"By far, the best viewing of the meteor shower will be in a swath from the Plains and Mississippi Valley to the Gulf Coast and Florida, where mostly clear skies should dominate," said weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman."Viewing in both the West and East may be more challenging, thanks to a pair of stuck upper-level lows. This includes a swath from the Carolinas and Appalachians into the mid-Atlantic and New England, as well as, somewhat surprisingly, much of California."
The Earth will pass through the tail of Halley's comet again in October during the Orionid meteor shower, the New York Times also said. The next time the comet itself will be visible from Earth will be in 2061, the report added.
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Josh Adkins displays a nearly 2 pound fragment of meteorite, discovered near Osceola, Florida. (Brendan Falllon)