This year's Eta Aquarids, known for their speed, peak during the early morning hours of May 5 - 6. Traveling at about 66 km/s (148 000 mph) into Earth's atmosphere these meteors are leaving glowing trains (incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor) which last for several seconds to minutes.
This is an above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak, which favors southern hemisphere observers. Sadly, the nearly full moon will be a big problem this year blocking out all but the brightest meteors.
In the northern hemisphere, the rate can reach about 10 to 30 meteors per hour, where they can be seen as "earthgrazers" - long meteors that appear to skip the surface of the Earth at the horizon.
