How to see the Lyrid meteor shower

The Lyrid meteor shower occurs in the middle of April and is one of the most exciting celestial spectacles of the year. Here's how to best view the falling stars.

What are the Lyrids?

The Lyrids are the second meteor shower of the year. "The meteors hit the atmosphere and slow down, and that transmits heat. That's the flash you see," astronomer Dean Regas said to CNN. "Most of the material from meteor showers, the comet pieces, will burn up before they hit the ground, and a lot of them are about the size of a grain of sand. So it's really impressive to see something so small light up like that." On rare occasions, the shower has also "been known to produce an occasional 'outburst,' during which up to 100 meteors per hour may be visible, though it is difficult to predict when these outbursts will occur," said Space.com (a sister site of The Week).

The falling rocks originate from the Comet Thatcher, which is about halfway through its approximately 415-year orbit around the sun. The comet was discovered in 1861, but the Lyrid shower has been observed for 2,700 years. This year the Lyrids will also overlap an the end of their run with the next meteor shower, the Eta Aquariids, which won't hit its peak until May 5 and 6.

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How can you see the Lyrids?

The Lyrid shower began on April 17 and peaked between April 21 and 22. The shower will continue through April 26. While the Lyrid meteors will be visible all across the sky, "following their path backwards they will appear to originate from the constellation of Lyra, the lyre, which contains the star Vega," said Royal Museums Greenwich. "In reality, the meteors have nothing to do with this distant group of stars. The direction they appear to come from is dictated by the motion of the Earth and the debris itself." The shower is best viewed from the northern hemisphere because the shower's radiant point is far to the north, but the southern hemisphere may be able to view some too.

At its peak, you can see up to 18 meteors per hour, visible under clear, dark skies with minimal moonlight. "Most meteors you see (during a Lyrid shower) are not brilliant fireballs — they are faint little streaks — and the more moonlight there is, it tends to wash out those faint little streaks," Bill Cooke, the lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office, said to CNN. The good news is that this year, there are "excellent viewing opportunities with minimal moonlight interference from the thin crescent moon," said Space.com. "The best time to watch the meteor shower is typically between midnight and dawn, when the radiant is higher in the sky and Earth is rotating into the stream of meteors." Viewing in total darkness can also help make the meteor shower easier to see. "Come prepared with a blanket. Lie flat on your back and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible," said NASA.