Stargazers across the U.S. can celebrate Earth Day with one of the night sky's best annual shows: the Lyrids. This meteor shower began earlier in April but will peak over the weekend — excellent timing for those of us who want to sleep in after a night of meteor-watching.
The Lyrids will peak this year during the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, April 23, NASA communicator Preston Dyches says in a recent explainer. You might still see a few shooting stars in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday and Monday, too.
NASA says the Lyrid meteor shower can produce 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour at its peak. These meteors are often fast and bright, known for occasional extra-bright "fireballs." They're also known to occasionally surprise stargazers with as many as 100 meteors per hour — the last time this happened was in 1982.
To watch the Lyrids, set up a comfy blanket or lawn chair far from city lights. NASA says the best time to watch is during the dark hours between moonset and dawn. Lie flat with your feet facing east and try to take in as much of the sky as possible. The key, as with any meteor shower, is patience — it'll take at least half an hour for your eyes to adjust enough to see meteors.
The weekend timing isn't the only lucky aspect of this year's Lyrids. The meteor shower will peak just days after a new moon, meaning there won't be enough moonlight to drown out faint meteors.
The Lyrids come from leftover particles of Comet Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. Earth's atmosphere runs into this flow of dust and other debris each April, causing an annual show that stretches back thousands of years! NASA says the first recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower was in 687 BC in China.
The Lyrids' radiant, where the meteors appear to originate, is the constellation Lyra. While this celestial "harp" is where the shower gets its name, it's not where you should look to see the meteors. NASA says the Lyrids will appear longer and more spectacular as they get further away from their radiant.