It's Cinco De Mayo, Taco Tuesday, & There's A Meteor Shower

MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) -- Move over Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday, tonight the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected to peak, unfortunately, a nearly full moon could outshine the show.

May is the best spring month to view meteor activity for those in the northern hemisphere, according to the American Meteor Society.

However, this meteor shower favors sky watchers in the southern hemisphere, where between 20 and 40 meteors can be seen each hour. In the northern hemisphere, observers can expect to see between 10 and 30 meteors in the hours before dawn.

The meteor shower is expected to peak on the mornings of May 5 and 6, but it coincides with the coming full moon, which is also a supermoon, on May 7.

The amount of visible meteors will also be affected by weather conditions where you live.

The source of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is Halley's Comet. Earth crosses the comet's orbital path each spring between April and May. This happens again in October, which creates the Orionid meteor shower.

The famous Halley's Comet is visible from Earth about every 76 years. It was last seen in 1986 and won't be visible again until 2061.

The meteors will be streaking across our sky at 151,200 miles per hour, and about half of them will leave persistent trains, which are glowing trails of energetic gas that remain for a few seconds after the passing of the meteor, according to EarthSky.

They appear to be coming from the northeastern part of the Aquarius constellation, which contributes to the name of the shower.