at the end of this week, Brazilians will be able to see the Eta Aquaridas meteor shower, which will reach its peak in 2018. Dawn from May 4 to 5. This event can be produced 20 to 50 meteors per hour Since the moon that night will be only 14% full, the scenario is suitable for observation.
Unlike the last solar eclipse which only It was visible in North AmericaThe Eta Aquaridas meteor shower can be seen from all over Brazil. The further south you are, the better you can observe the event. Stellar activity will be slightly more intense in areas south of the equator, with up to 50 meteors per hour.
People closer to the equator will still have good meteor showers to see, but in slightly smaller amounts – 10 to 30 meteors per hour. No matter where you are, the best time to observe is From 2:00 am.
In addition to the low light from the Moon, which will provide a better view of the night sky, another factor that should favor the number of meteors is the interaction of rain grains with gas giant Jupiter, making Eta Aquaridas one of the most intense meteor showers this year.
According to Marcelo Antonio, an astronomer at the Meteor Observatory in Brazil Exos A partner of the National Observatory, the meteorites emitted from the Eta Aquaridas shower are famous for their path and their high speed, reaching 65.5 kilometers per second.
The rain is made up of loose fragments of Halley's Comet, which won't be seen here again until 2061. And (in another episode of powers straight from the Knights of the Zodiac) the Aquarius meteor shower owes its name to its location. In the constellation Aquarius, close to the brightest star in the constellation, Eta Aquarius.
The first observation occurred in the Middle Ages, something we know about thanks to Chinese records. However, this phenomenon was not recognized as a meteor shower until 1868, when Austrian astronomer Rudolf Falb discovered the connection between the Eta Aquaridis meteor shower and Halley's Comet.
Meteor showers occur when the orbit of a comet or asteroid crosses Earth's orbit. Its debris and fragments break up and burn up as it penetrates the Earth's atmosphere. When these meteors burn up, they create a glow in the sky, leaving a luminous trail, popularly known as a shooting star.
When many of these meteors burn up at the entrance to the atmosphere, we have a meteor shower. To observe it, you do not need any type of equipment. Just find a remote location, with little light pollution, and be prepared to fall asleep into the wee hours of the morning.
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