Meteor showers, other events on the horizon for sky gazers in May

After all the wondrous events that astronomy enthusiasts saw in April, the current month will also hold amazing celestial events that they can see. 

There are several important space events taking place which you must not miss this month.

Eta Aquarids meteor shower

The comet Halley is regarded as the better producer of the meteor showers which is taking place between May 5 and 6.

According to Nasa, Eta Aquarids usually leads to about 60 meteors per hour, but due to the event's closeness to the full moon, much of the debris will not be visible.

In order to catch this mesmerising sky view, you need to be under a clear sky, away from an area polluted with light.

The Halley comet is believed to be at least 16,000 years old and will also lead to Oionids meteor showers in October.

Nasa stated that the peak for the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be from May 4-5.

Full flower moon

While reaching its peak illumination, the full moon will be on the other side of  North America and the best time to watch the full flower moon is the evening of May 5.

According to Farmers' Almanac, the moon gained its nickname through observations by Native Americans who noted flowers were abundant during the late spring.

It is also regarded as milk moon corn planting.

The penumbral lunar eclipse will also be happening, however, North Americans would not be able to see it.

The next penumbral lunar eclipse visible in North America will be in March 2024.

Visible Mercury

On May 29, Mercury will be visible from the Earth because of its distance from the sun.

The occurrence is also named as Western Elongation marking it as one of the three times Mercury reaches this stage.

Those planets closer to the sun than Earth reach the stage of greatest western elongation or greatest eastern elongation.

If you happen to miss this amazing glance in the sky, it will be happening again for the last time in September.