Debris of Halley's Comet. Radiant rises late — best in the hour or two before dawn; fast meteors with persistent trains.
See the live viewing map for the Eta Aquariids →The Eta Aquariids reach maximum activity on the night of Wed, May 5, 2027 (computed from the shower's solar-longitude peak, the method the International Meteor Organization uses). The shower is active from Mon, Apr 19 to Sat, May 29.
The often-quoted ZHR of 50 is a theoretical ceiling (perfectly dark sky, radiant overhead). Real counts depend on your sky: from a dark-sky site expect a meaningful fraction of that; from a suburb, far fewer. Meteorcast computes the expected visible rate for your exact spot and night.
The moon is 0% illuminated on the peak night — nearly moonless — excellent conditions for faint meteors.
Somewhere dark, with an open sky and clear weather. Use the live map to compare cloud forecast, air transparency, and light pollution anywhere in North America, and to find ranked dark-sky sites near you.
Peak times computed from the shower's solar longitude (IMO method) with precession correction; moon illumination from high-precision ephemeris. Forecasts on the live map combine ECMWF, GFS, and ICON weather models with smoke, transparency, and light-pollution analysis.