Clear Skies Tonight Favorable to see a piece of Halley’s Comet

Tonight will bring a New Moon and a dark sky. As Earth passes through the tail of Halley’s comet, we’ll be able to see bits and pieces of the debris coming in contact with our atmosphere. The debris gets close to our atmosphere due to the gravitational pull. Once the debris interacts with our atmosphere, it heats up becoming white and what appears to be shooting stars. This is called the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower, and it peaks tonight. Meteors of 10-12 per hour will be visible late tonight and into the predawn hours on Friday. The optimal viewing conditions will be in southern latitudes, but Mid-Missouri will be able to view this spectacular sky late tonight with best viewing conditions from 4AM until 6:14AM (sunrise).

Give yourself 20-30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the night sky. In October Earth will pass through the tail of Halley’s comet again and we’ll have a chance to view the Orionid Meteor shower.

A little bit about Halley’s Comet: It’s a ball of ice and rock left over from the formation of our solar system. It orbits the Sun, making an appearance to Earth every 75 years. The last time Halley was visible was in 1986. We’ll have to wait until 2061 to view the actual comet again!