Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week

Every year between April 14 and 30th, the Lyrid meteor shower graces the night sky. This year, the meteor shower peaks on April 22. Typically, the Lyrid meteor shower doesn’t produce as many meteors as some of the other showers.

However, the meteors produced by the Lyrid shower are typically fast and very bright, leaving behind dust trails that can be seen for several seconds. Typically, the Lyrids produce 15 to 20 meteors per hour, and the expectation is about 18 per hour this year.

However, you need to be in an area with dark skies to see them. The Lyrid shower happens each year as the Earth passes through the debris left behind by a comet called C/1861 G1 Thatcher.

That comet was first discovered in April 1861 by an astronomer named A.E. Thatcher. The comet takes 415 years to orbit the sun. The name Lyrid comes from the constellation Lyre, where the meteors appear to originate from.