Will the moon ruin the Eta Aquarid meteor shower this week? Here's what to know

Just before daybreak on Wednesday morning (May 6), is the peak of the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This meteor display is active in the first week of May and produces long streaks whose paths are aimed away from the "Water Jar" of Aquarius. Their streaks are long for a good reason, which we'll explain in a moment. The Eta Aquarids have a most interesting lineage. Unlike some of the other annual meteor displays whose history can be traced back for many centuries, the Eta Aquarids were not "officially discovered" until the late 19th century. In 1870, while sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, Lieutenant Colonel G.L. Tupman (1838-1922) sighted 15 meteors on the morning of April 30, and another 13 a few mornings later. All the meteors Tupman sighted appeared to emanate from the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius the Water Bearer. Then in 1876, Professor Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907) pointed out that the orbit of Halley's Comet nearly coincided with Earth's orbit during the first week of May and that if we encountered any comet debris capable of producing meteors, those streaks of light would appear darting from the vicinity of Aquarius. Herschel immediately noted that Tupman's observations were very close to his prediction. In the years that followed, increasing numbers of other astronomers and observers also noted similarities between the orbits of Halley's Comet and the Eta Aquarid stream. …