Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower peaks May 5-6 with 50 meteors
The eta aquarid meteor shower reaches its broad peak overnight on May 5-6 in 2026, with the best chance to spot it in the northern hemisphere during the predawn hours of May 6. In the southern hemisphere tropics, ideal conditions may bring up to 50 meteors per hour.
May 6 predawn viewing
The shower is active from April 19 to May 28, but the narrow window before dawn on May 6 gives northern viewers the best shot at catching the brightest streaks. The shower’s radiant reaches its highest altitude then, and the meteors are known for leaving persistent glowing trains in their wakes.
Moon over the southeastern horizon
Viewing gets harder in the northern hemisphere because the moon is up at the same time. The 84%-lit lunar disk rises above the southeastern horizon shortly after midnight on the night of May 5-6, and moonlight may hide dimmer meteors from view.
That leaves northern stargazers with a possible 10-30 meteors under better conditions, but moonlight could cut that to under 10 sightings per hour. For people in the U.S., the constellation Aquarius rises above the eastern horizon to the left of the waning moon roughly three hours after midnight.
Aquarius and Halley's Comet
The radiant sits in the constellation Aquarius, and the shower comes from Earth passing through debris shed by Halley's Comet. Smartphone astronomy apps such as Stellarium or SkySafari 7 Pro can help locate the radiant before the predawn hours arrive.
