The 2013 Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks tomorrow morning, Sunday May 5th. The best time to view the sky is that couple of hours prior to dawn. The Eta Aquarids can produce up to 20 to 40 meteors per hour. This shower favors the southern hemisphere slightly but on a good year from the southern portion of the U.S. you might see about 10 to 15 meteors per hour.

This year is predicted to be a good year as the moonlight from the waning crescent moon shouldn’t cause to much trouble. The Eta Aquarid meteors are swift-moving and seasoned sky watchers know to look for persistent trains from the brighter ones.

The graphic above shows the sky looking east at 5 a.m. on Sunday May 5, 2013. The red Telrad bulls-eye is the Eta Aquarid shower’s radiant  The radiant is that point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate from but you do not have to look only at the radiant to see the meteors. In fact, looking in that general direction if the sky a better choice.

How to bag the most meteors? I recommend finding a dark sky, a friend, don’t forget the coffee, a couple of lawn chairs that will allow you to lay back and take in as much sky as possible and enjoy the celestial show. Happy hunting!