Stargazing: Lyrids Meteor Shower

Lyrids Meteor Showers occur in late April each year. This year, the peak viewing period is overnight on April 21-22. 

The moon is currently waxing (growing) during this time, with it expected to be around 68% illuminated. The brightness of the moon might make difficult to view the meteor showers, thus getting up early before dawn, when the moon has set, might offer the best viewing opportunity.

You do not need any special kind of equipment to view the meteors. You look up in a clear dark sky. Give your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness when you want to see the depths of the stars above you. As with any stargazing activity, it requires patience. It is expected that you can see between 15-20 meteors streaking across the dark skies per hours (depending on how clear the sky is). The Lyrids are known to be fast and bright meteors, and originate from the constellation Lyra the Harp (Source: NASA).

The Lryids happen around this time each year, and is one of the oldest recorded meteor showers. The first observation goes back to 687 B.C. (Source:Bill Cooke, space.com).

If you take a clear night sky photo of Lyrids meteor shower, and you would like to share for a possible story on space.com or to possibly be included in the space.com image gallery, you can send the photo, comments and your name and observing location to spacephotos@space.com. Make sure to include your name and where you took the photo. Visit space.com for more info, or follow them on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Bonus: April 22nd is Earth Day