Extra Meteors in the Eta Aquarid Showers

ASTRONOMY.COM

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower could have twice the number of usual meteors according to astronomers. Dust from Comet Halley is what creates the Eta Aquarid meteor shower (meteors are, of course, small solid particles that burn up in Earth's atmosphere). The shower is named Eta Aquarid because all the meteors seem to come from a common point near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius. Rates of meteors seen in a shower are supposed to rise and fall in a 12 year cycle. This cycle suggests that Jupiter is affecting the debris that cause the shower because Jupiter orbits the sun in about 12 years. When Jupiter passes close to the track of Eta Aquarid, the orbiting particles get an extra strong tug which places extra dust and particles in Earth's way.

Eta Aquarid meteor shower fast facts:

--The Eta Aquarids are the first of two annual showers produced by Halley's Comet. The other is the Orionid shower in late October.
--Astronomers discovered the shower in 1870 and linked it to Comet Halley just six years later.
--Its meteors are among the fastest, entering the atmosphere at 151,000 mph (243,000 km/h).
--The meteors average magnitude 3. The brighter ones display a yellowish color.