The meteor shower is about to peak at 50 streaks of light per hour

Astronomy buffs around the world will get the chance to watch the Eta Aquarids meteor shower peak mid-week.

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower takes place every year from April 19 to May 28, providing a spectacular light show that can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky. This year, the event will peak on the night of May 4 and into the morning of May 5 with about 50 bright lights every hour, according to meteorite expert Bill Cooke from the US Space Agency.

An Eta Aquarids meteor streaks across the night sky over the Indonesian island of Java.

Eta Aquarids has medium brightness, so viewers should find a location away from city lights for the best viewing. The moon will be in a crescent phase and shine about 15% when the meteor shower is at its peak.

Eta Aquarids are derived from fragments of Halley's comet. It is named after Eta Aquarii, the brightest star in the constellation Aquarius. The position of this constellation is the place where most of the bright streaks are concentrated.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the meteor shower won't appear too high in the sky. Therefore, if you are in this area, you will need a dark sky with a relatively clear southern horizon to observe the light trails.

Those watching in the Southern Hemisphere and the equator will have the best views, as the constellation Aquarius is more prominent in the southern sky. Nights are also longer in the Southern Hemisphere as the June winter solstice approaches.

Meteor showers occur when debris from comets plunges into Earth's atmosphere and burns up. These debris initially followed the same orbit as the comet, but were gradually deflected due to different travel speeds as well as the influence of gravity, radiation pressure and interplanetary gas, Cooke explained. .