Eta Aquariids meteor shower to light up Australian skies

7NEWS

05-05-2025

A stunning light show flashing across Australian skies for the next month is set the peak this week.
The Earth is about to make its annual journey through the brightly burning space debris left behind by Halley's Comet — the meteor shower is known as the Eta Aquariids.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: How to best watch the Eta Aquariids meteor shower lighting up Aussie skies.
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Meteors will be visible in Australia's night skies all month, but will start to ramp up from the early hours of Tuesday, Australian National University astrophysicist and cosmologist Brad Tucker told 7NEWS.com.au.
The best time to catch peak rates Down Under will be between 2.30am and 5am local time on Wednesday and Thursday.
During those peak times, skygazers can expect to see about two dozen meteors each hour.
Milky Way landscape photographer David Magro said meteors can be spotted 'as early as 10pm if you're lucky'.
While Halley's Comet is only visible in the Earth's skies every 75 years, and isn't set to be seen again until 2061, the Eta Aquariids meteor shower is a reminder that the comet is never too far away.
As the comet orbits around the sun, it leaves a trail of debris, and as Earth's orbit annually intersects with that path, those celestial rocks burn up brightly in our atmosphere, creating the phenomenon known as the Eta Aquariids meteor shower.
'We are colliding with these little bits of rock at up to hundreds of thousands of kilometres an hour, so you're seeing them through immense heat,' Tucker told 7NEWS.com.au.
And while the meteor shower will be visible around the world, those watching from the Southern Hemisphere will get the most impressive views, with the Northern Hemisphere expected to see just a fifth of the meteors visible from Australian skies.
How to watch the Eta Aquariids shower
The meteors will appear near a star in the Aquarius constellation known as Eta Aquarii — that's how the shower gets its name.
This is in Australia's northern skies, so that's the direction skygazers will need to face to spot the meteors.
'They can burn up anywhere from there, so you really just want a nice, clear view to the north,' Tucker told Sunrise.
'Give your eyes 10 minutes or so to adjust to the darkness.'
Tucker said that while you won't need binoculars to see the meteors, you might need a little patience.
'While there will be a good number of meteors, you might see a few and then need to wait for a while (to see more), so it's a patient waiting game, but hopefully worth the reward in those early morning skies,' he said.
If you miss the sky show this month, Earth will pass through the wake of Halley's comet again in October for the Orionids meteor shower.
During second annual pass through, the meteors will appear from the constellation Orion.
But skygazers won't need to wait that long for another meteor show — the next meteor show visible for Australians is the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower, which peaks in late July.
'This produces less meteors than the Eta Aqauriids, but we can definitely see it in Australia,' Tucker said.