Stunning Super Flower Moon and Eta Aquarid meteor shower to light up the sky this week

The next big meteor shower set to light up the sky will be visible in the UK over the next week alongside the Super Flower Moon.

The Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower occurs twice a year, once in May and once in October, when the Earth crosses the orbital path of Halley’s Comet. 

Comets shed dust and stones as they fly around the sun, this debris along Halley’s path causes the Eta Aquarids.

The debris hits the Earth’s atmosphere at a whopping 150,000 km per hour.

Halley’s Comet takes 76 years to orbit the Sun and will next be visible from Earth in 2061. 

To view the Eta Aquarids head outside anytime after midnight on the night of 5-6 May and be sure to look across the whole sky.

While they’ll peak between midnight and dawn on 5-6 May, they’re active from April 24th until May 20th so you should be able to see them this weekend.

The meteors appear to originate from Aquarius, they are best seen around 30 degrees away from the origin so experts have advised to keep a look out on the whole sky. 

Head here for more info.

The fourth and final supermoon of 2020 will make the shower slightly harder to see, sadly, but will also be worth keeping an eye out for.

The Super Flower moon will be visible on Thursday May 7th. 

The supermoon will be slightly bigger than how the moon usually appears and therefore slightly brighter meaning there’s plenty to look forward to in the nigh sky this week.