Swift Halley's Comet meteors, best from southern skies.
Peak rate
~50 meteors/hr at peak
Active
15 Apr – 27 May
Radiant
Aquarius
Speed
66 km/s
Parent body
Comet 1P/Halley
Moon at peak
Peak-night moon only 0% lit — dark skies favour the shower
The Eta Aquariids are the richer of the two annual showers fed by Halley's Comet. Their fast, 66 km/s meteors often leave glowing trains that linger for a second or two after the streak has gone.
The radiant sits low for northern observers but climbs high in the pre-dawn sky from the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, where rates of 40–60 an hour are common.