How and when to watch the Lyrid meteor shower
After months without a meteor shower, sky-gazers now have a reason to keep their chins up — the Lyrids are here to kick off the season.
The Lyrids have graced the sky since April 17 and will hang around until Saturday, with the densest concentration of meteors flying by Monday night into Tuesday, according to the American Meteor Society. In a perfectly dark sky, onlookers can typically spot up to 18 meteors per hour during the Lyrid shower’s peak. This year, however, light from the waning crescent moon will make it somewhat harder to see the celestial show.
Still, local weather conditions allowing, careful observers in the Northern Hemisphere can expect around five streaking lights per hour appearing between 10 p.m. local time Monday and 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Dr. Bill Cooke, lead for NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
“Most meteors you see (during a Lyrid shower) are not brilliant fireballs — they are faint little streaks — and the more moonlight there is, it tends to wash out those faint little streaks,” Cooke said. “Meteor observing is one of those things where you’re going to take your time.”
For the optimal viewing experience, Cooke recommends lying down somewhere outside with minimal light pollution and giving your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
More about the Lyrids
Regular meteor showers occur throughout the year as the Earth passes through a field of debris left by comets and мальчик гей asteroids, said Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
The Lyrids originate from the parent comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), which is about halfway through its roughly 415-year orbit around the sun. While Comet Thatcher was discovered in 1861, the Lyrids have been observed for 2,700 years, making them one of the oldest known meteor showers, according to NASA.
The best time to view the Lyrids is when Lyra, the Northern Hemisphere constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate, is above the horizon, according to EarthSky.
“The other important thing is: Don’t look at your cell phone, because that bright screen destroys your night vision,” Cooke said. “And it takes your eyes off the sky.”