Eta Aquariid meteor shower 2026

When and where to look

The best night is the night of 5 to 6 May. Best from the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics in the hour or two before dawn, when the radiant has climbed in the east.

The meteors seem to come from the radiant, in Aquarius, near the star Eta Aquarii, but they appear all over the sky. Look about halfway up and 40 to 60 degrees away from it, where the trails are longest.

From	Radiant at its highest
London	38°
New York	48°
Delhi	60°
São Paulo	68°
Sydney	57°

The higher the radiant, the more meteors you see. When it is low, the ones you do see skim the horizon in long, slow trails.

The Moon

An 81% Moon rises during the night and brightens the hours before dawn, so watch before it comes up.

Up to 50 an hour is the rate under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead. From a typical dark site expect a third to a half of that; from a town, a handful.

What is happening

Every year the Earth crosses a stream of dust shed by Halley's Comet. The grains, most no bigger than sand, hit the top of the atmosphere at 66 km/s and burn up 80 to 120 km above the ground, each one a streak of light.

Because they all arrive on parallel paths, perspective makes them seem to spread from one point, the radiant, like a road vanishing into the distance. They are named after Eta Aquarii, the star nearest their radiant.

How to watch

• Get away from lights. A dark field or hill outside town shows several times as many meteors as a garden in the city.
• Give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adapt, and keep your phone screen dim or red.
• Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as you can. No telescope or binoculars: they show too little sky.
• Be patient. Meteors come in bursts and lulls; give it at least an hour.
• To photograph them, put a phone or camera on a tripod, point it about 45 degrees from the radiant and take long exposures one after another.

See it in 3D

The Earth, where the meteors fall, rendered live from today's real positions by our 3D viewer. Press play to load it here, or open the full viewer to fly anywhere in the solar system.

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Get a reminder

We email you a day or two before, with the time. Leave your email once and we send a code to confirm it; nothing else arrives unless you ask for it.

Questions

When do the Eta Aquariids peak in 2026?

The peak is predicted for 6 May 2026 at 09:04 UTC. The shower is active from 19 April to 28 May, so the nights either side are worth watching too; the best is the night of 5 to 6 May, after midnight.

How many meteors will I see?

Up to about 50 an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead. Most watchers see a third to a half of that from a dark site, fewer from towns.

Will the Moon spoil it?

An 81% Moon rises during the night and brightens the hours before dawn, so watch before it comes up.

Where should I look?

Anywhere, though meteors appear longest 40 to 60 degrees from the radiant, in Aquarius, near the star Eta Aquarii. Look about halfway up the darkest part of the sky.

Do I need a telescope?

No. Meteors are best with the naked eye: binoculars and telescopes show far too little sky.

When are the Eta Aquariids next?

6 May 2027, with the peak at 15:13 UTC and a 0% Moon.

More in the sky

Every eclipse, meteor shower and planet at opposition, or the whole calendar. Tonight's planets are on what is visible tonight.

Sources

• International Meteor Organization: meteor shower calendar
• Wikipedia: the Eta Aquariids
• NASA: meteors and meteorites
• The times and positions on this page come from our own sky calendar, built on the sources above, the same one the 3D viewer runs on.