Appointment with (Eta) Aquariids - Shooting Star night sky viewing

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks on 5-6 May. These shooting stars come from Halley's Comet!
We'll try to grab a view of some out of our eyes - no binoculars or telescope needed, as they flash by and burn up around 80-100km above us in the upper realms of the atmosphere.

If the Sunday is cloud-free enough we'll use Tooting common to try and catch some of them (after congregating at/just outside the pub). If another day has much better forecast weather (and I'm free) I'll move to that day but the date will stay/be set by late Friday. We're meeting at 8 to allow 30-40 minutes for people to arrive and settle, maybe grab a quick drink (hot or otherwise relaxing), then we'll head onto the common as it gets dark enough near 9pm. These meteors won't be as common as the Perseids in August, but there hopefully will be a few over the evening that hopefully we can catch some of between us (up to 50 per hour in perfectly dark skies, better late at night), and we can also generally star/planet-hunt (Mars is very near the moon, about level with it to the right, was even closer overnight; Jupiter is low down even further over) or find other targets to look at meanwhile.

The Aquariids come from a point close to the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius - most meteor showers are named just by the constellation their radiant (central source point) is in but the Aquariids get the nearest star included too.

The radiant (source point) is below the horizon until nearer 3am but looking North/North East when we're ready to settle onto the common (near the cricket pitch off Dr. Johnson Avenue is the hoped for spot after we convene at the pub) is the best chance to try and catch some. How long you/we all stay depends on weather, clouds, tiredness etc. so you don't have to stay out late with us - especially with it being a Sunday. Feel free to look for them all through this shower's active period, April 19 to May 28. I picked this date to maximise our chances although the Moon is up until 3am, but to choose days far enough away that the moon is out of the way in the evening will reduce the number of meteros to spot.

NOTE: the event may change date before then if weather looks terrible, in order to pick the best night. If its solid/nearly-all cloud all nights, we'll cancel and try again next year (or the next worthwhile
bigger meteor shower; the fainter and smaller ones are really hard to spot even one of from London).

More Info:
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/eta-aquariid-meteor-shower-2024-when-where-see-it-uk