The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak tonight! Meteors will be visible from around 10:30 tonight until dawn tomorrow, with the best viewing happening around 5 a.m. tomorrow. During the peak, you should be able to see 10-20 fast and bright meteors per hour!
The Lyrids happen every year from around April 15-29. Meteor showers are caused by debris from a passing comet. In the case, the comet is Comet Thatcher, which was first spotted on April 4, 1861. It has a roughly 422-year orbit that is expected to return around 2283. Sightings of the Lyrid meteor shower have been happening for centuries, with the first record dating to the 7th century BCE. That means the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers.
As Comet Thatcher travels on its orbit, it leaves behind a trail of ice and dust moving thousands of miles per hour. The Earth runs into this debris trail every April, causing the bits of debris to enter our atmosphere and burn up. That’s what makes the fiery, colorful streaks we can see in the sky. Meteor showers are named after the nearest constellation. The Lyrids are named for the constellation Lyra, and appear to radiate near the star Vega, the brightest star in Lyra.
While counts typically range from 5 to 20 meteors per hour, sometimes outbursts of 100 meteors per hour occur. These outbursts average every 60 years. It’s not known what causes them, but other planets and objects are thought to affect the density of the debris as they cross paths.
If you miss out on the Lyrids, don’t worry because there are plenty more meteor showers to come! Another one actually overlaps with the Lyrids – the Eta Aquariids are expected to start on Friday and last through May 28th, with the peak being May 5 and 6. The most visible shower most years is the Perseids, which peak on August 12 every year at over one meteor per minute. There’s also the Leonid meteor shower in the fall, which peaks around November 17 each year.