Tonight Is a Peak Lyrid Meteor Shower – And You Don’t Have to Wake Up Early to See it
Tonight (April 21st-22nd) is the Lyrid meteor shower that produces anywhere between 10 and 100 shooting stars per hour.
They’re also one of the best for Americans since the point in the sky they seem to originate from is located far in the north of the night sky in the constellation Lyra. Those in the Southern Hemisphere won’t have as much northern sky in their view, but citizens of the US and Europe will have excellent viewing of this meteor stream.
Though the Earth passed into the Lyrid meteor stream on the 16th of April, tonight is what’s called the peak, when the largest number of shooting stars can be seen.
Meteor showers occur when the Earth crosses the path of a comet, and the shooting stars are fragments of the comet burning up in the atmosphere. The comet that forms the Lyrids is known as Thatcher Comet, after the astronomer who discovered it.
It’s called the Lyrid meteor stream rather than the Thatcher meteor stream because the shooting stars appear to Earthlings as if they originate in the constellation Lyra. To find Lyra, look for the star Vega, one of the brightest in the sky this time of year.
Though Earth passes through these meteor streams around the same time every year, the Moon’s phases are less consistent. As it happens this year, a waning crescent will fall below the horizon at 01:35 UTC, or after dinnertime hours on US East Coast, meaning there will be no light pollution from the pale lady.
The longer you watch the meteors, the higher Lyra and its guide star Vega will rise in the sky, Earthsky reports. Long after midnight but before dawn in the Northern Hemisphere, they will be so high that any shooting stars will appear to streak across the whole of the sky, promising a much better show.
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