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[Centaur]

The annual Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower is expected to reach its worldwide peak on 2011 MAY 06 at 11hr UT (06 hr CDT). The shower actually runs from about APR 21 through MAY 12. For any particular locality, observation is generally best between local midnight (midway between sunset and sunrise) and dawn. A waxing crescent Moon during the evening should present no problem at all.

For a single observer the Eta Aquarids produce ten to sixty meteors per hour. They are particles from Comet Halley and have a radiant in the constellation Aquarius. The radiant is the point toward which the meteors' tails point, but they can be seen anywhere in the sky.

I've drawn a table of the major annual meteor showers for this decade. It includes Moon illumination data. It can be seen at www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids

Photos and reports of the meteor shower would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Paulie pchris00]

Eta Aquarids are all I will ever see again of Comet Halley.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

You didn't miss much.

It was a dud in 1986, barely observable.

Next.....

[Centaur]

May 3, 2011 10:18:25 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

You didn't miss much.

It was a dud in 1986, barely observable.

Next.....

Comet Halley won’t be much better in 2061. But be prepared for 2134 when it will be spectacular!

[Paulie pchris00]

I remmeber my dad taking my sister and me to a park where there was an observation of Halley, and I know that I saw it through a telescope, but that is my only memory of it. My comet observations are almost exclusively what we saw of Hartley 2 at the Dunes last October.

[patrickm]

If Ray Kurzweil is right, we all may be around for both of them.

shocklee.com/2011/02/transcendent-man-new-documentary-on-ray-kurzweil/

[Paulie pchris00]

If it's okay with Kurzweil, I'd rather not be. That scares me more than dying.

[patrickm]

May 3, 2011 17:41:36 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

If it's okay with Kurzweil, I'd rather not be. That scares me more than dying.

Am certain that people said the same thing about antibiotics.

Fear not. As with every other day on our pale blue dot, attendance here is purely voluntary.

[Paulie pchris00]

May 3, 2011 18:04:00 GMT -6 patrickm said:

May 3, 2011 17:41:36 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

If it's okay with Kurzweil, I'd rather not be. That scares me more than dying.

Am certain that people said the same thing about antibiotics.

Fear not. As with every other day on our pale blue dot, attendance here is purely voluntary.

It's the voluntary part that gets me sometimes. One of these days it WILL get me.

[patrickm]

Let's put that one off for just a bit, shall we?

[patrickm]

I did see one long E to W meteorite in Jamaica. A good one, but only one. Hopefully tomorrow is better!