For details about our equipment and method of data analysis, see our main page. The 2007 eta-Aquarid meteor shower showed considerable activity for many days in early May. The peak counting rate was about 38 meteors per hour in the early morning hours of May 6, 2007, and there was considerable activity in the surrounding days. The peak occurred at the predicted time, and the counting rate was in the middle of the predicted range. The meteors of this shower are from Halley's Comet.

In the following summary graph, we've counted meteors in quarter hour intervals, and then applied a data smoothing equation of the form

Smoothed_Rate(t) = 3.2*[((1/2)*N(t))+((1/4)*(N(t+1))+((1/4)*(N(t-1))+((1/8)*(N(t+2))+((1/8)*(N(t-2))]

where N(t) is the number of meteors in the fifteen minute interval t, N(t-1)is the number of meteors in the preceding fifteen minute interval, and so on.

Rates for 2007 eta-Aquarids

The following graph shows the meteor count rates per hour we measured for the 2007 eta-Aquarids. Also plotted on the graph is reference data from a six day period in April for comparison. These rates were determined by a computer program that counted all peaks that climbed at least 20% above the background level in one second. The graph shows the rates observed for the six day intervals starting at Midnight EST on 04/16/07 (Reference) and 05/01/07 (eta-Aquarids).

Summary

The 2007 eta-Aquarid meteor shower showed considerable activity for many days in early May. The peak counting rate was about 38 meteors per hour in the early morning hours of May, 2007, and considerable activity in the surrounding days. The peak occurred at the predicted time, and the counting rate was in the middle of the predicted range.

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Comments and technical questions can be addressed to Dev Gualtieri at Honeywell Laboratory, Morristown, NJ.