What's Up in Space -- 3 May 2003 Subscribe to Space Weather News! METEOR SHOWER: Right now Earth is gliding through a stream of dusty debris shed by Halley's Comet. This encounter is causing the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The best time to watch is just before local dawn on Tuesday, May 6th, when the shower is expected to peak. Sky watchers in the southern hemisphere, where the shower will be most intense, could see more than 30 meteors per hour. [observing tips] [sky maps: south, north] GIANT SUNSPOT: Sunspot 349 stretches more than 10 Earth-diameters from end to end, and it's changing daily. Pictured right is a snapshot captured by Polish photographer Bartek Okonek on May 1st. You can see this sunspot, too, but never stare directly at the Sun. Use safe solar projection techniques instead. The magnetic field of sunspot 349 is moderately tangled, which means it is a likely source of M-class solar flares. MERCURY TRANSIT: It happens only 13 times each century: Mercury passes directly between the sun and Earth. The next such transit is only days away on Wednesday, May 7th. Sky watchers in Europe, Asia, and Africa will have a good view of the planet's tiny silhouette creeping across the face of our star. (continued below) Animation courtesy Frank Reddy. Copyright 2003. Tune into spaceweather.com next Wednesday for images from around the world ... and some from out of this world, too. The transit begins at 0513 UT (1:13 am EDT) and ends a little more than 5 hours later. More: AURORA OUTLOOK: Earth is exiting a solar wind stream that has sparked Northern Lights as far south as Wisconsin and Michigan this week. The auroras were so bright in Canada and Alaska that they rivaled the glow of sunset and big-city lights. Above: In Alaska, Ulrike Haug photographed these bright Northern Lights on April 30th.. The pink horizon-glow comes from the setting Sun. [more] Widespread auroras are unlikely this weekend. The next best dates for aurora-hunting will be May 7th and 8th when Earth should encounter another solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the Sun. WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | SpaceWeather PHONE |