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 See the eta Aquarid meteor shower from anywhere. Here's when 
 
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 Meteorologist/Science Writer Scott Sutherland 
 
 Monday, May 2, 2016, 1:57 PM - Famous Halley's Comet is bringing a pre-dawn meteor shower to our skies on Thursday and Friday, and here's how you can watch it from anywhere, no matter what the weather is like. 
 
 Twice every year, Earth's orbit around the Sun carries it through streams of debris in space, left behind by the passing of Comet Halley. When the the tiny flecks of dust and ice that make up these streams plunge into Earth's atmosphere, they are moving fast enough to produce glowing trails through the sky, resulting in meteor showers. 
 
 On the mornings of May 5 and May 6, we will be able to see the first of these two Halley's Comet meteor showers - the Eta Aquarids. 
 
 Watch from anywhere 
 
 The meteor shower's radiant - the point in the sky where the meteors appear to emerge from - rises along with the constellation Aquarius, in the very early morning hours. The meteor shower should be visible from about 3 a.m. local time, until dawn, on both mornings. 
 
 
 
 The eta Aquarid radiant in the eastern sky, at 4 a.m. on May 5 and May 6, 2016. Credit: Stellarium/S. Sutherland 
 
 While it's not considered one of the strongest meteor showers that occur during the year, anyone with clear skies and far away from sources of light pollution should be able to see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour. 
 
 According to NASA, the morning of May 5 may be the better of the two days for viewing, with slightly more meteors visible in the sky, and the exact peak of the meteor shower is expected during daylight hours on May 5. 
 
 Below are maps of the expected cloud conditions for the two mornings (check back for updates to this forecast). 
 
 THE BIG REVEAL: Will a developing La Niña affect our summer as much as El Niño affected our winter? Tune in for the Summer Forecast on May 24 at 9pm EST and we'll help you plan your summer. 
 
 If the weather fails to cooperate with you on these two mornings, or the timing doesn't really work with your sleep schedule, the Slooh Community Observatory is hosting a live show, which can be viewed via the embedded video at the bottom of this article. 
 
 The Slooh show begins at 8 p.m. EDT, on the night of Thursday, May 5. 
 
 Meteor trains! 
 
 One of the remarkable things about the eta Aquarid meteor shower is that they can produce what are known as "persistent trains" - colourful, faintly glowing streaks that can persist in the sky from a few seconds to several minutes after the meteor has winked out. Some have even been observed for hours afterward. 
 
 What causes this is the exceptional speed of the meteoroids in the stream of cometary debris. 
 
 When a typical meteoroid passes through the Earth's upper atmosphere, it's travelling at around 100,000 km/h, and it compresses the air molecules directly in its path to the point where they heat up and glow. This glow persists for as long as the meteoroid exists (the heat vapourizes ice particles and smaller bits of dust) and as long as it's travelling fast enough to continue compressing the air (since the compressed air pushes back against the meteoroid, slowing it down). 
 
 The particles in the eta Aquarid stream hit Earth's atmosphere travelling at more like 240,000 km/h. This produces the bright meteor flash, and sometimes there's an added bonus. 
 
 After the meteor has winked out, a glowing trail can be left in the air. 
 
 Since these have only rarely been recorded, there's still some uncertainty about exactly how this is caused, however there are two basic ideas behind this effect. The first says that the meteoroids are travelling fast enough to actually strip electrons from the air molecules, ionizing them. As the air molecules reclaim those liberated electrons, the energy they release in the process is emitted as light. Since this process can take much longer than the original meteor flash, the "train" persists in the air afterward. The second says that metals vapourized off the fast-moving meteoroids chemically react with ozone and oxygen to produce the glow via chemiluminescence. One of these explanations may account for these "trains" or both may cover different occurrences, at different times, and even between individual meteors. 
 
 It will take more sightings of these to fully explain them. 
 
 Sources: NASA | Slooh | With files from The Weather Network 
 
 Watch Below: The Slooh Community Observatory eta Aquarid show starts at 8 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 5. ||||| Halley’s Comet won’t make a full return to the skies until 2061. But tonight, you can catch a glimpse of it in the Orionid meteor shower. 
 
 Earth is currently passing through a patch of debris created in the wake of the comet’s tail. When that debris hits our atmosphere, it will burn up and spray the night sky with light. 
 
 This year, the shower will peak overnight Saturday into early Sunday morning, with 15 to 20 meteors per hour. If the skies are clear, some meteors will be visible Friday night into Saturday morning as well. 
 
 These meteors are named “Orionid” because they appear to emanate out of the constellation Orion, which takes the shape of a hunter wearing a most-fetching three-star belt. (Specifically, they appear to radiate from his “club.”) It’s one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky. 
 
 We come across this patch of debris again in May, when the skies light up with the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. 
 
 NASA notes these are “fast” meteors, traveling at about 148,000 mph as they smash into our atmosphere. “Fast meteors can leave glowing ‘trains’ (incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor) which last for several seconds to minutes,” the space agency explains. 
 
 That’s cool. But even cooler: “Fast meteors can also sometimes become fireballs: Look for prolonged explosions of light when viewing the Orionid meteor shower.” 
 
 You’ll want to be in as dark of a place as you can get to, like a park far away from city lights. Check out this light pollution map to chart out a dark place to watch. The Washington Post also has a handy map predicting what regions of the country will be free of cloud cover. Check it out. 
 
 And you don’t need to be looking directly at the constellation Orion to spot the meteors. They’ll be shooting off in all directions. But if you stay up past midnight, Orion will climb higher and higher in the sky, and the meteors will be easier to spot. Just before dawn — after the moon sets around 5 am — may be the best, darkest, time of all to watch. (Check when the moon sets in your area at timeanddate.com.) 
 
 Just find a dark spot, lie down, and look up. NASA suggests to generally gaze in a southeastern direction. 
 
 And bring a sleeping bag. It might get cold! If you miss this meteor shower, no worries. Next up are the Leonids, which peak around November 17. ||||| The Orionid meteor shower is set to peak on the night of Oct. 22-23, but a bright moon will disrupt viewing until shortly before dawn. The meteors that streak across the sky are some of the fastest among meteor showers, because the Earth is hitting a stream of particles almost head on. 
 
 "The saving grace for the Orionids, if you go out the last hour or two before dawn, the moon might have set in time for you to catch a few," NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com. "The rate's going to be about 30, 40 per hour, but the moonlight will wash out most of those meteors." 
 
 The particles come from Comet 1P/Halley, better known as Halley's Comet. This famous comet swings by Earth every 75 to 76 years, and as the icy comet makes its way around the sun, it leaves behind a trail of comet crumbs. At certain times of the year, Earth's orbit around the sun crosses paths with the debris. 
 
 "You can see pieces of Halley's Comet during the Eta Aquarids [in May] and the Orionid meteor shower [in October and November]," Cooke told Space.com. 
 
 Orionid Meteor Shower: Leftovers of Halley's Comet 
 
 The Orionids are named after the direction from which they appear to radiate, which is near the constellation Orion (The Hunter). In October, Orion is best visible around 2 a.m. Cooke told Space.com that the best viewing will be around that time on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22. If you miss the peak, the show is also visible between Oct. 15 and 29, as long as the moon isn't washing the meteors out. 
 
 Sometimes the shower peaks at 80 meteors an hour; at others it is closer to 20 or 30. Cooke predicted that in 2018, the peak would be at the smaller end of the scale, echoing the peaks of 2017 and years before. 
 
 Orionid meteors are visible from anywhere on Earth and can be seen anywhere across the sky. If you find the shape of Orion the Hunter, the meteor shower's radiant (or point of origin) will be near Orion's sword, slightly north of his left shoulder (the star Betelgeuse). But don't stare straight at this spot, Cooke said, "because meteors close to the radiant have short trails and are harder to see — so you want to look away from Orion." 
 
 As is the case with most nighttime skywatching events, light pollution can hinder your view of the Orionid meteor shower (although this year, the moon will do damage as well). If possible, get far away from city lights, which can hinder the show. Go out around 1:30 a.m. and let your eyes adjust to the dark for about 20 minutes. Bundle up against the cold if necessary. Lie back and use only your eyes to watch the sky. Binoculars and telescopes won't improve the view, because they are designed to see more stationary objects in the sky. 
 
 Skywatchers can start looking for Orion low in the eastern sky before dawn on any morning around the peak, Oct. 20-21. The setup is seen here from mid-northern latitudes. Even though the radiant, or point of origin of the meteors is in Orion, meteors can appear far from the constellation. 
 
 Some Orionids will appear very fast and bright, since they can whiz by at up to 148,000 mph (238,000 km/h) in relative speed. That's just six kilometers an hour slower than the Leonids, the speediest show of the year, Cooke said. 
 
 It's tempting to think that the brighter meteors represent fragments that would reach the ground, but Cooke said that isn't the case with the Orionids. These tiny comet fragments — some as small as a grain of sand — are called meteoroids. When they enter Earth's atmosphere, they become meteors. Friction from air resistance causes meteors to heat up, creating a bright, fiery trail commonly referred to as a shooting star. Most meteors disintegrate before making it to the ground. The few that do strike the Earth's surface are called meteorites. [How Often Do Meteorites Hit the Earth?] 
 
 An image of Halley's Comet taken in 1986. Credit: NASA 
 
 Astronomers have recorded Halley's Comet as far back as 240 B.C. but no one realized that the same comet was making multiple appearances. In 1705, then-University of Oxford professor and astronomer Edmund Halley published "Synopsis Astronomia Cometicae" ("A Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets"), which showed the first evidence that the comet is reoccurring. By studying the historical records of a comet that appeared in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682, Halley calculated that it was in fact the same comet and predicted it would reappear in 1758. While Halley died before the comet's return, it did appear on schedule and was named after him. 
 
 Reports of the Orionids, however, did not first appear until 1839 when an American in Connecticut spotted the shower, Cooke said. More observations of the shower were recorded during the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. Cooke told Space.com he wasn't sure why the meteor shower was discovered so late, given that records of Halley's Comet exist for millennia. 
 
 The next perihelion (closet approach of Halley's Comet to the sun) is expected around July 2061. 
 
 Editor's note: If you snap a great photo of an Orionid meteor or any other night sky sight you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a story or image gallery, send images and comments in to: spacephotos@space.com.
– The Eta Aquarids meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the debris left behind by Halley's Comet, and it's peaking this week, the New York Times reports. The Weather Network reports that most everyone will have a good view of the shower Thursday and Friday. About 10 to 20 meteors per hour will be visible between 3am and dawn local time, just to the left of the constellation Aquarius, those mornings. Those wanting the best view may want to avoid clouds and light pollution. Oh, and don't blink. “If you blink, you’re not going to see them. They move that fast,” a NASA astronomer tells the Times. The meteors, which are typically about the size of a grain of sand, are traveling approximately 148,000mph when they hit the atmosphere.