--- title: Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower: How to Watch in 2017 description: Tonight will be the best time to view the Eta Aquarid meteor shower for anyone willing to stay up late enough canonical: https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-05T19:04:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:46:39.063Z article:section: Science og:title: What to Know About the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower og:description: The meteor shower will be most visible from 4 to 5 a.m. on Saturday og:url: https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c725d0692046ee/6988cc25656a3fb390bcfdbd/gettyimages-588663534.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: mete-r=shower-visible og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower twitter:description: The meteor shower will be most visible from 4 to 5 a.m. on Saturday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c725d0692046ee/6988cc25656a3fb390bcfdbd/gettyimages-588663534.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower ## Video: How to Photograph at Night [Watch (HLS stream): How to Photograph at Night](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UkEDGERp.m3u8) (4:11)  _Published 2016-08-09. Photographs by Stuart Palley_ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 5, 2017 7:04 PM UTC  SPRUCE KNOB, WV - AUGUST 12: In this NASA handout, a 30 second exposure of a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA viaGetty Images) SPRUCE KNOB, WV - AUGUST 12: In this NASA handout, a 30 second exposure of a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA viaGetty Images)Photograph by Bill Ingalls—Getty/NASA by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 5, 2017 7:04 PM UTC The [Eta Aquarid meteor shower](http://time.com/4319508/watch-live-stream-online-eta-aquarid-meteor-shower/) will be a sight to see on Friday night (and early Saturday morning) for anyone willing to stay up late enough. The meteor shower, which was created by debris from Halley’s Comet, will travel across Earth in April and May, [according to Quartz](https://qz.com/976711/how-to-watch-the-eta-aquarids-meteor-shower-created-by-the-debris-of-halleys-comet/), but will be most visible this weekend. Here’s what you need to know about how and where to see the shower. ## When is the best time to watch the meteor shower? The annual, week-long meteor shower is expected to be at its most visible during early Saturday morning, [according to EarthSky](http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-eta-aquarid-meteor-shower). Conditions will be best when the moon sets just before 4 a.m. EST, leaving an hour of total darkness before the sun rises. Since the meteor shower is above the equator, [according to Earth Sky](http://earthsky.org/space/why-more-eta-aquarid-meteors-in-southern-hemisphere), the best views will come from that area. People located further north will be still be able to catch the meteor shower, though they may see fewer meteors go by, according to EarthSky. ## How can I watch the meteor shower? The meteor will be best seen when looking [east near the constellation Aquarius](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/skywatching-guide-may-meteors-moons-planets-science/), where the meteor gets its name from, according to _National Geographic_. Tonight there will be up to 50 meteors going by in an hour, EarthSky reports. For those who can’t a good view in person, a live stream will be available on [Slooh.com](https://www.slooh.com/#/shows/event-details/423?%5Fk=c7w1dv) for members. ## What are are the Eta Aquarids? The Eta Aquarids are pieces of debris from [Halley’s Comet](http://time.com/3627652/comets-earth-water/), which is only visible from Earth every 76 years, [according to NASA.](https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch%5Fthe%5FSkies/tag/eta-aquarids/) Debris from Halley’s comet also creates the [Orionid meteor shower ](http://time.com/3528768/orionid-meteor-shower-live/)in October. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower was first suspected around 1868 and confirmed in 1900, according to NASA. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/"},"headline":"What to Know About the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower","datePublished":"2017-05-05T19:04:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:46:39.063Z","description":"The meteor shower will be most visible from 4 to 5 a.m. on Saturday","url":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/","keywords":["Space","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c725d0692046ee/6988cc25656a3fb390bcfdbd/gettyimages-588663534.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c725d0692046ee/6988cc25656a3fb390bcfdbd/gettyimages-588663534.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mete-r=shower-visible","caption":"The Annual Perseid Meteor Shower","creditText":"Photograph by Bill Ingalls—Getty/NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/","name":"What to Know About the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Photograph at Night","description":"Photographs by Stuart Palley","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UkEDGERp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-09T23:29:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UkEDGERp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/","duration":"PT4M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4768780/meteor-shower-what-to-know/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```