Once every 76 years: Sri Lanka to witness Eta Aquarids meteor shower tomorrow

Every spring, Earth passes through a cosmic trail left behind by one of the most famous visitors from the outer solar system: Halley’s Comet. The result is the Eta Aquarids meteor shower, a dazzling display of shooting stars that’s set to peak this year during the night of May 5, 2025 into the early hours of May 6, 2025.

This meteor shower, which is also visible to the naked eye in Sri Lanka, is set to begin at 1.00 a.m. on Tuesday (06) and peaks between 4.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m.

This rare cosmic event is best visible to Sri Lanka between 4.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m. on Tuesday in the Eastern sky, according to Astronomer Gihan Weerasekara.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower originates from debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, a short-period comet that completes a sweeping orbit of the Sun every 76 years.

Though the comet hasn’t visited our part of the solar system since 1986 and won’t return until 2061, Earth intercepts the dusty trail shed during hundreds, possibly thousands of particles passes each year in late April and early May.

That dust, about the size of grain of sand to grain of rice, are the bright meteors people see streaking at nearly 147,000 mph through the sky.

Each meteor shower is a bit different. Some are bright. Some have larger bits of rock which can create brilliant fireballs. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is not a strong one, expect no more than a few meteors per hour. But the Eta Aquarids are known for their high velocity which creates trails that can linger for several seconds.

Halley’s Comet, officially named 1P/Halley,, after English astronomer Edmond Halley who correctly predicted it would return in 1758, making it the first comet recognized as periodic (that’s where the 1P comes from).

This revolutionized the understanding of celestial mechanics and demonstrated the predictive power of Newtonian physics.

Halley’s Comet also fuels the Orionids in October.

Maximizing meteors

The best time to see the most meteors is in the hours before sunrise as the Earth is turning into that dust stream.

-    Look to the darkest part of your sky, meteors can appear anywhere

-    Give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, at least 10-15 minutes

-    Leave your phone inside, the light resets your night vision.

Although the meteors appear to radiate from a point near the star Eta Aquarii, the seventh brightest star in the constellation Aquarius, they can appear anywhere in the sky.

--With Agencies inputs