The Eta Aquarid meteor shower which is associated with Halley’s Comet will have its peak activity on May 6 this year, and if you are a fan of astronomy you can go on a hiking tour to Cerro Pelado in Guanacaste, one of the best places to appreciate this phenomenon.

The group Senderismo Costa Rica (Hiking Costa Rica) is organizing once again a tour for this date, “Last year we had between 100-150 people. We include the transportation from San Jose, tour guides, breakfast when we come back down from the mountain, all for 25 thousand colones”, commented Isaac Arce from Senderismo Costa Rica to newspaper La Republica.

“Meteor showers are the flashes of dust grains that burn up in the atmosphere. They occur when the Earth crosses the paths of comets, which leave dust along their orbits. That’s why they happen on certain dates and appear to originate from specific points in the sky. The Eta Aquarids are associated with Halley’s Comet, but their path separated from the comet long ago”, explains the website Space.com.

The Eta Aquariids get their name because their radiant appears to lie in the constellation Aquarius, near one of the constellation’s brightest stars, Eta Aquarii.

The group leaves on May 5th at around 10 p.m. from San Jose, and the hike from the entrance to the peak of Cerro Pelado takes approximately 30 minutes.

Rates this year can reach 15-30 meteors per hour during the peak time which occurs in the pre-dawn hours away from the glow of city lights.