Thanks to Halley's Comet, sky gazers will be able to watch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower peak starting May 6, just before dawn.

According to SPACE.com, the shower will be comprised of debris, or "cosmic litter," from Halley's Comet. The comet last passed our inner solar system in 1986, but every time the comet goes around the sun, it creates a trail of dust that becomes a meteor shower.

The Eta Aquarid shower will peak on Tuesday morning, right before dawn. It begins Monday, however, and may also be visible late at night.

"Under ideal conditions (a dark, moonless sky) up to 60 of these very swift meteors might be seen per hour," SPACE.com explains. "The shower appears at about one-quarter peak strength for several days before and after May 6."

This peak probably won't be reached in North America, however. Because most of these meteors will be "flying" below our horizon, it's more realistic to expect about five to 10 meteors per hour in places like Los Angeles and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (both around 35 degrees latitude), and Miami and Brownsville, Texas (both around 26 degrees north latitude).

Areas from the Southeast to the southern Plains and northern Mexico should get a show because there will be no clouds, according to Accuweather.

Unfortunately, cities north of 40 degrees latitude, such as Chicago, Philadelphia and New York, will see "practically zero" meteors, according to SPACE.com. In addition, the Great Basin and northern Plains will get less than a stellar show because of storm clouds. Clouds are also expected to be "abundant" from the mid-Atlantic to central Ohio, Accuweather reports.

This is reportedly a good year for sky gazers to catch the Eta Aquarid shower because our moon is just one day away from First Quarter, which means that it will set by the time of the shower "and will provide absolutely no interference to viewing these swift streaks of light," according to SPACE.com.

If you're lucky enough to be in a good spot for the shower, keep your eyes peeled for earthgrazers.

"These meteors are extremely long," Robert Lunsford, who works for the International Meteor Organization, told SPACE.com. "They tend to hug the horizon rather than shooting overhead where most cameras are aimed."

"Earthgrazers are rarely numerous, but even if you only see a few, you're likely to remember them," Bill Cooke, a Marshall Space Flight Center Space Environments team member, added.

The next meteor shower from Halley's Comet debris, known as the Orionid meteor shower, comes in October.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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