Eta Aquariids in Marrakech

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks from Marrakech around May 5-6, with up to 40 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. In 2026 a new moon means dark skies, and from Marrakech the radiant in Aquarius climbs to 25° above the east horizon around 05:10. Local best viewing window: 04:25–05:10 UTC+01 on the peak night, about 0.8 hours of astronomical darkness. Scaled to that altitude, the 40/hour headline figure works out to roughly 17 meteors an hour from Marrakech under a genuinely dark sky. The radiant stays low from Marrakech, so expect fewer meteors but longer, shallower trails near the horizon. Tonight: patchy cloud — expect to wait out a few banks.