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Will the moon ruin the Eta Aquarid meteor shower this week? Here's what to know

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Will the moon ruin the Eta Aquarid show? Or is it still worth watching? (Image credit: Created in Canva by Daisy Dobrijevic. Moon image credit: NASA.) Just before daybreak on Wednesday morning (May 6), is the peak of the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This meteor display is active in the first week of May and produces long streaks whose paths are aimed away from the "Water Jar" of Aquarius. Their streaks are long for a good reason, which we'll explain in a moment. Herschel immediately noted that Tupman's observations were very close to his prediction. In the years that followed, increasing numbers of other astronomers and observers also noted similarities between the orbits of Halley's Comet and the Eta Aquarid stream. Like other comets, Halley's is a cosmic litterbug; about every three-quarters of a century as it sweeps closest to the sun , it leaves a "river of rubble" in its wake along its orbit.…

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