• The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to peak this weekend. The mornings of May 5 and 6, 2012 are probably best for meteor-watching. But the largest full moon of 2012 on May 5 will drown these meteors in its glare.
• As a consolation prize, tonight's bright moon guides you to the planet Saturn and Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. The brilliant waxing gibbous moon and Saturn both shine in front of Virgo tonight, though the moon will leave Virgo to enter the constellation Libra later this weekend. Meanwhile, Saturn will re

main in front of Virgo until December 2012.
• Virgo? Here's your constellation
• When no moon is in the sky to spoil the show, you typically see 10 to 20 meteors per hour at mid-northern latitudes and perhaps twice that number in the Southern Hemisphere, for the Eta Aquarid shower. This shower is like most others in that the best time to watch tends to be during the wee hours before dawn.
• Is biggest and closest full moon on May 5, 2012 a supermoon?
• The Eta Aquarid meteors, in particular, are strictly for night owls or early risers, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. This shower's radiant point doesn't rise over our horizons until around 2 or 3 a.m. The meteors are few and far even then, but the wee hours are a time for catching earth-grazing meteors in this shower. An earth-grazer is a long, slow, colorful meteor that horizontally streaks the sky.
• The closer to dawn, the more Eta Aquarid meteors you're likely to see. These meteors are extremely fast and often bright, striking Earth's atmosphere at 66 kilometers - about 41 miles - per second. Many of the brighter meteors leave persistent trains - glowing ionized gas trails - for a few moments after their fiery plunge.

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