Eta Aquariids in Amsterdam

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks from Amsterdam around May 5-6, with up to 40 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. In 2026 a new moon means dark skies, and from Amsterdam the radiant in Aquarius climbs to 17° above the south-east horizon around 05:15. Local best viewing window: 04:15–05:15 CEST on the peak night, about 1.0 hours of civil twilight. Scaled to that altitude, the 40/hour headline figure works out to roughly 12 meteors an hour from Amsterdam under a genuinely dark sky. At this latitude the sky never gets fully dark that night — the Sun only reaches 21.2° below the horizon — so only the brighter meteors will show. Tonight: widespread cloud, with little clear sky forecast.