In the next couple of days (May 5th and 6th, to be precise,) the Eta Aquarids meteor shower should be peaking – this is one of two meteor showers caused by debris from Comet Halley (the other being the Orionids in October.) However, Aquarius is the radiant and that doesn’t rise above the horizon for the northern hemisphere until roughly 3 AM, and soon afterward the moon follows in the same general region of sky – it will be only a crescent, but too close to the typical origin point. You may get lucky since, again, meteors might appear all over the sky, just on average more from Aquarius, but it’s not the best of conditions. My recommendation would be to start after midnight and aim towards the southeast, if your location allows clear skies in that direction.
Saturday May 8th is World Migratory Bird Day, so stay indoors because it’s their day – there’s gonna be a bird parade and probably a lot of cookouts, pulled mealworm sandwiches and all that. I keep finding that we have plans for that day, or at least portions of it, but I imagine that I’ll get some chance to observe the holiday. Really, I observe it a few dozen times a year at least, so I suspect I can cope even if I get no opportunity on the day.
I have this feeling there’s another holiday coming up, but can’t for the life of me remember what it is. I’ll figure it out eventually – stay tuned. And keep your calendar open.
