Halley's comet won't make appearance in our solar system for about 50 years. Thanks to the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower, remnants of the famed comet will drop onto Earth overnight.
Beginning at 8 p.m. EST, astronomy website Slooh.com (or watch it down below) will live stream the meteor shower from a low-light telescope stationed in the Canary Islands. While viewers in the Southern Hemisphere expect to see between 30 to 60 meteors per hours, those north of the equator will get interference from the moon.
The Eta Aquarids - which gets its name from the Aquarius constellation - is made up of meteors left behind by Halley's comet. Halley last entered our solar system in 1986 and won't be back until 2062. Though it is some three billion miles away from our planet, sand grain-sized particles remain in our atmosphere from its last visit.
Sky watchers hoping for a glimpse at the shower should look straight up and away from the moon just before 6 a.m. EST Wednesday morning.
Peak time on the west coast is 3 a.m. PST, though viewers might find a better view on their computer as the moon's illuminated glare could drown out the brightest meteors.
Those lucky enough to find a clear view should look for "Earthgrazers," or shooting stars that skim the atmosphere horizontally. As Bill Cooke, a member of the Space Environments team at the Marshall Space Flight Center puts it, "Earthgrazers are rarely numerous. But even if you only see a few you're likely to remember them."
Watch a live streaming webcast of the meteor shower on either Slooh.com or Space.com.
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