Eta Aquariids

When are the Eta Aquariids?

The Eta Aquariids are active from about 20 Apr to 27 May each year and peak around 6 May. Up to about 118 meteors an hour at the peak under ideal skies (the zenithal hourly rate). For local times, the Moon and the best hours from your place, open the page for the year.

• Eta Aquariids 2026Active 20 Apr – 26 MayPeak ~6 May
• Eta Aquariids 2027Active 20 Apr – 27 MayPeak ~6 May

How to watch

The radiant rises late, so the window is the hour or two before morning twilight. From mid-northern latitudes it never climbs high before dawn and rates are low, but the few meteors you catch can be long “earthgrazers” skimming the atmosphere.

Get as far from streetlights as you can and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Every glance at a bright phone screen resets that, so keep it away or use a red night mode.

Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as possible, looking about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Meteors can appear anywhere; the ones far from the radiant have longer trails.

You need no equipment. Binoculars and telescopes show only a tiny patch of sky, so they make you miss meteors. Dress warmly, even in summer, and plan to watch for at least an hour: meteors come in clumps and lulls.

Where do they come from?

Each May, Earth passes through dust shed by Halley’s Comet over many orbits. The same stream gives us the Orionids in October, when Earth crosses it on the other side of its orbit.

Very fast meteors that often leave persistent glowing trains.