How to Watch the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower This Week

Be sure to look up this week. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which is visible every year, is active from April 19 to May 28 this go-round. Associated with Halley's Comet, the meteors in the Eta Aquarids actually separated from the comet hundreds of years ago. The shower is the first to be linked to Halley's Comet, which was discovered in 1705 by Edmund Halley.

The Eta Aquarids' (or Eta Aquariids) radiant appears to be within the constellation of Aquarius near Eta Aquarii, its brightest star. This is where they get their name from.

The shower will peak overnight on May 5 and into the early hours of May 6. However, stargazers should look toward the heavens in the predawn hours to be treated to a magnificent display. Here, the Eta Aquarids' radiant will reach its highest altitude, and you could see up to 50 meteors per hour (under the right conditions, of course). Just be sure you're in an area with minimal light pollution. Get away from those city lights!

If you'd rather stay indoors or the weather forecast isn't in your favor, per Space.com, you can always tune in to various free streams to ensure you don't miss this celestial light show. For example, the stream from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Atacama Desert in Chile will give you the best seat in the house.

The free stream from Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, boasts minimal light pollution, making it optimal viewing for astronomy lovers. Mauna Kea is "one of the world's premier astronomy sites." Meanwhile, the Nelson/Tasman live camera will offer you a view from the pinnacle of New Zealand's South Island, and the Northumberland Meteor Cam LIVE Stream out of Embleton, UK, is ideal for getting a broader scope of the Eta Aquarids. The stream from Kagawa, Japan, also has multiple live cams tracking the shower throughout the night.