Lyrids Meteor Shower Returns This Month With Up To 20 Shooting Stars Per Hour

One of the oldest recorded celestial displays, the Lyrids meteor shower is set to reach its peak next week. While Lyrids are known for unpredictable surges that can produce up to 100 meteors per hour, this year's peak arrives with specific atmospheric conditions that will require stargazers to plan their timing carefully for the best possible view of these fireballs.


This year, though, the moon will greatly affect visibility. A waxing crescent moon will set shortly after midnight on the peak night, leaving the crucial pre-dawn window in complete darkness. This timing is ideal, as the shower’s radiant point will be near the star Vega in the constellation Lyra. This constellation rises high in the northeast after 10:00 p.m. local time, but reaches its highest point just before dawn, which is typically when the most meteors are visible.

The Lyrids are famous for their particularly bright meteors that can cast shadows for a split second and punch deeper into the atmosphere than average space dust. Unlike many other showers that produce consistent but faint streaks, the Lyrids are characterized by these sudden bursts of luminosity. Though they lack the sheer volume of the Perseids, their history with humans is older; Chinese astronomers first documented the Lyrids shower in 687 BC, noting that "stars fell like rain."