Don’t miss the Eta Aquarid meteor shower happening tonight

Each year, as Earth crosses the orbital path of Halley’s Comet, stargazers are treated to a fantastic meteor shower known as the Eta Aquarid.

The shower takes place each year from April 19 through May 28, with this year’s forecast calling for the greatest peak before dawn on Saturday, May 6, according to Space.com.

A couple meteors caught by the roof top camera overnight. #EtaAquaridMeteorShower #wawx pic.twitter.com/AIA6Yovx7v

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 7, 2016

As EarthySky explains, when particles enter into Earth’s upper atmosphere, they produce persistent trains, or ionized gas trails that leave a lingering glow for a few moments, making for quite the sight.

For those who want to catch the glowing skies, your best chance will be a few hours before dawn, roughly around 4 a.m., while the late evening will give you a chance to catch earthgrazers, which are meteors that make particularly long streaks in the sky.

Haley's Comet | Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower can be observed this week on May 5. #EtaAquarid #meteorshower will be at its brightest and it will be a visual treat to watch it from the #Earth. The meteor shower is named after the star Eta Aquarid which is an important member of the #Aquariusconstellation. The Aquarius constellation is also represented by a #waterbearer so although Aquarius is an air sign it is respected across cultures as the bringer of rains. The #gods associated with Aquarius like #Zeus, #Varun and others are often highly revered as life givers. This meteor shower is thus considered to be the harbinger of #hope and #faith because it seems like #water is flowing from a fountain located in the #sky. However it must be kept in mind that the actual origin of this meteor shower is #Haleyscomet. Eta Aquarid is aligned in the same plane and seems to be the source of meteor showers to us but actually it is located several light years away. ? : #justinng #cosmos #comets #space #universe #manifest #ethereal #otherworldly #stars #planets #nightsky #astronomy #nasa #astro #science

A post shared by Franceasca Seiden (@franceasca) on May 3, 2016 at 1:30am PDT

The showers are the most active in the southern hemisphere, with some 20 to 40 meteors shooting across the sky per hour, while those in the mid-northern latitudes should be able to see about 10 or so meteors per hour.

While you won’t need any special equipment to view the sight, you’ll want to give yourself an hour of viewing time to give your eyes a chance to adapt to the dark.