One of the oldest known meteor showers will illuminate the night sky next week. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the morning of Thursday, April 22, marking a spectacular start Earth day
The downpour follows a months-long meteor drought, during which no showers took place from January to April.
What are the Lyrids?
The Lyrid meteor shower returns from about April 16-25 every year, as particles are ejected by Comet 1861 G1 Thatcher. There are no pictures of the comet because it last passed through the inner solar system in 1861 – and with an orbit of 415 years, it won’t be back until 2276.
Records of the Lyrids date back about 2,700 years, making it one of the oldest known meteor showers. According to NASA, the first Lyrid meteor shower was recorded in China in 687 BC.
Lyrid meteors appear to be radiating from the constellation Lyra the Harp, near the bright star Vega, which gives the shower its name.
The Lyrids are known to have bursts of 100 meteors per hour, with heavier showers in Greece in 1922, Japan in 1945, and the US 1982. An eruption is not predicted for 2021 – but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
As Earth collides with the comet’s orbit, the evaporating debris zooms into our atmosphere at about 110,000 miles per hour. The meteors are considered to be medium fast.
About 25% of the Lyrid meteor leaves a sustained train – an ionized gas trail that glows a few seconds after the meteor has already passed. The shooting stars are known for their speed and brightness, although they cannot be compared to the brilliant ones Perseid shower in August.
Under normal conditions, the shower peaks at about 10-20 meteors per hour in the Northern Hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere the rate is much lower at 1-2 per hour.
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When and where to watch the Lyrids
The Lyrids meteor shower is expected to peak in the early morning hours of Thursday, April 22, and continue until the morning of April 23, according to EarthSky. Wherever you are on Earth, the best time to spot the meteor shower is between midnight and sunrise.
The shower starts after its radiant rises, and is usually best when the radiance is highest in the sky. During the peak of the shower, Vega in the northeast rises around 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time, and is highest just before sunrise.
However, the late evening hours also provide the opportunity to spot an ecclesiastical shooter – a slow-moving, long-lasting meteor traveling across the horizon line.
With this particular storm, fewer meteors are visible from the southern hemisphere.
If you look straight into the beaming gaze, the shooting stars will be short. To see longer and more spectacular meteors, it is better to look away.
As always, it’s best to escape bright city lights and watch meteor showers in a wide open space. Find an open area, give your eyes 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness, and lie flat on your back.
This year, the light from the crescent moon, which will be full on April 26, will interfere with visibility.
On the morning of April 22, the moon will set about 30 minutes before a sign of dawn begins to appear in the east – at 4:07 a.m. and 4:44 a.m. EDT, respectively – so there will only be a short window with no light. interference, ”said NASA.
The Lyrids overlap with the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, which lasts from April 19 to May 28. However, that downpour is stronger in the southern hemisphere.