Lyrid meteor shower, the best night sky show for months, is about to peak

The annual Lyrid Meteor Shower officially started Thursday and will remain active for about 10 days, with the maximum observation night coming Tuesday through Wednesday morning, according to the Griffith Observatory. You can catch it starting at 10 p.m., but this shower is perfect for early risers, as an hour or two before sunrise is probably the best time to spot “shooting stars.”

The lyrids are pieces of rock and dust left by the comet C / 1861 G (Thatcher). Every year around this time, Earth travels through a cloud of debris from a previous visit by the comet, its most recent trip through the internal solar system was in 1861, and those particles collide with our upper atmosphere at a speed of approximately 27 miles (43 kilometers) per second.

If you can find a dark sky during peak night with minimal light pollution, cloud cover, and a clear view, you can expect up to 18 meteors per hour. And with the new moon set for Wednesday, there will be no moonlight to eliminate the experience of detecting meteorites.

Lyrids aren’t necessarily the most spectacular meteor shower of the year, but they come after a full season with no heavy rainfall between January and April. So it’s a great opportunity to get out there and just spend some time looking up, especially since most of us spend a lot of time indoors during these unprecedented times.

“Compared to other meteor showers, Lyrids tend to produce bright meteorites and an occasional fireball,” writes Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society.

You should be able to see the Lyrids by simply lying back, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness and relaxing with the widest possible view of the sky. But if you can identify the Lyra constellation, the harp, the Lyrids seem to radiate from this point in the sky, so it’s worth making sure it’s in your field of vision.

If you can’t wake up before sunrise, it’s worth looking for meteors anytime after 10 p.m. Local time in the afternoon. They are less likely to appear higher in the sky and likely less to be visible, but you are more likely to see a so-called “Earth Grazer” near the horizon that burns longer and brighter than your average meteorite.

I suggest making the effort to get out and see some of these meteors when you can. We can all use a distraction right now and this might be the best chance to spot meteorites until November. The great Perseid meteor shower in August is typically the largest of the year, but in 2020 it will be partially washed away by the moon.

If you catch any fireballs please share the video with me @EricCMack.