One of the oldest known meteor showers will illuminate the night sky next week. The Lyrid meteor shower highlights on the morning of Thursday 22 April, marking a spectacular start of earth day.
The downpour follows a month-long meteor drought, during which no showers occurred from January to April.
What are the Lyrids?
The Lyrid meteor shower returns every year from about April 16 to 25, as particles fall from comet 1861 G1 Thatcher. There are no photos of the comet, because it last passed through the inner solar system in 1861 – and with a 415-year orbit, it will only be back in 2276.
Records of the Lyrids date back approximately 2,700 years, making it one of the oldest known meteorite showers. According to NASA, the first Lyrid meteor shower in China was recorded in 687 BC.
Lyrid meteors apparently radiate the harp from the constellation Lyra, near the bright star Vega, and give the shower its name.
The Lyrids are known to have had 100 meteors per hour eruptions, with heavier showers occurring in Greece in 1922, Japan in 1945 and the US in 1982. An eruption is not forecast for 2021 – but that does not mean it is impossible.
As the Earth collides with the orbit of the comet, evaporating debris increases at about 110,000 miles per hour in our atmosphere. The meteors are considered medium fast.
About 25% of the Lyrid meteor leaves a continuous train – an ionized gas route that glows a few seconds after the meteor has already passed. The shooting stars are known for their speed and brightness, although it can not be compared to the brilliant Perseed shower in August.
Under normal conditions, the shower offers a peak of about 10-20 meteors per hour in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, the rate is much lower, 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 preceding hours of Thursday 22 April, according to the EarthSky until the morning of 23 April. No matter where you are on earth, the best time to spot the meteor shower is between midnight and dawn.
The shower starts after the radiation rises, and is usually best when the radiation is highest in the air. During the peak of the shower, Vega rises in the northeast around 21:00 to 22:00 local time and is the highest just before dawn.
However, late hours also provide an opportunity to see a ground refuse – a slow-moving meteor moving across the horizon.
With this particular shower, fewer meteors are visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
If you look directly at the rays, 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 loud city lights and see meteoric showers in an 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 of the rising moon, which is full on April 26, will interfere with visibility.
“On the morning of 22 April, the moon will set for about 30 minutes before any sign of dawn in the east – at 04:07 and 04:44 EDT respectively – so there will be only a short window without light disturbance,” he said. NASA said.
The Lyrids overlap with the eta Aquariid meteor shower, which runs from April 19 to May 28. However, the shower is stronger in the Southern Hemisphere.