The dates of major meteor showers do not change much from year to year, though the peak (or “maximum”) of a shower may vary by a day or two. We’ve listed these peak dates in the table below, along with the average number of meteors to expect to see per hour and the best viewing time for each shower. More detailed information about each meteor shower can be found below the table. Though the Lyrids peaked in the early hours of Friday morning, clouds across much of Massachusetts may have disrupted the spectacle for hopeful meteor viewers. But the meteor shower should still be visible for a day or two after its peak. Better luck may be had early Saturday, when hazy skies over the state are expected to clear.
- Because of this, the best window for viewing the 2022 edition of the Lyrids will occur between midnight and moonrise.
- Partial solar eclipses occur when the moon passes in front of the sun but only blocks some of its light.
- The Lyrids have been around for centuries and are generally not known to be one of the better or brighter shows.
- Usually no larger than pebbles, meteors can put on a brilliant light show, sometimes even revealing color — orange, blue or green — depending on composition and temperature.
Its path brings it within the Earth’s orbit, then it goes really far away. Canadians are well suited to view the Lyrids as they are most visible in the Northern Hemisphere. I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard.
Where Do Meteors Come From?
According to NASA, the radiant for these meteors is the harp or lyre in the constellation Lyra. But veteran stargazers will tell you not to look at the constellation directly. Meteors will show up all over the sky, and the longest-looking ones are going to appear far away from the radiant. Every April, our planet makes its yearly passage through Comet Thatcher’s orbit. Stargazers are treated to a meteor shower while Earth intersects the debris trail. The detritus starts to burn up once it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
The Lyrid meteor shower will reach its peak on the morning of April 22nd. At maximum, only 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour may be expected, but most appear as swift, bright streaks of light. If you missed the pink moon last weekend, you still have the opportunity to spot something truly magnificent in the sky very soon.
Lyrid meteor shower dazzles in night sky during peak
This would normally mark the end of a meteor watch anyway, so for 2022 at least, the Moon will not be an issue. When he’s not writing, he is spending time with his dogs or going to see live music. The best practice is to head out to the countryside and get as far away from artificial https://foxnews.us.com/science/how-to-view-lyrid-meteor-shower/ light sources as possible. People in rural areas may have the luxury of just stepping outside. Regardless of how big and bright a meteor is, it ‘winks out’ when one of two things happens. Smaller meteoroids tend to be completely vapourized by the heat of the plasma around them.
Lyrid 2022: How to watch the spring’s first meteor shower
During the peak of the 1982 Lyrids, for instance, viewers in the Eastern United States reported seeing around 100 meteors per hour. Comets don’t shed their dust particles at a constant rate, so one year’s shower might be more or less intense than the next one. What can make a night of looking at Lyrids memorable, though, is the shower’s proclivity for producing bright fireballs. The Leonids normally feature 10 to 15 shooting stars per hour, but on rare occasions, they have been known to produce “meteor storms,” which result in thousands of meteors streaking across the sky! This year, the Leonids happen around the same time as the last quarter Moon. The Eta Aquarids are the result of dust and debris produced by Halley’s Comet as it circles the Sun.
In that case, set the display to reduce the amount of blue light it gives off and reduce the screen’s brightness. Larger meteoroids, from a pebble to a boulder in size, produce much brighter and longer-lasting meteors, which we call fireballs. This indicates that the meteoroid is exploding apart under the intense pressure. Each meteor occurs due to a meteoroid — a piece of rock or ice the size of a speck of dust up to a grain of sand — plunging into Earth’s upper atmosphere. Vega is the “radiant” of the shower, meaning that the meteors appear to emanate from that region.
As a result, the best conditions for star-gazing may be the evening of April 22 into the next morning or before the moonrise begins on either night. The moon is currently in a gibbous phase which means it is still quite large and bright in the sky, making stargazing more difficult. Thankfully, the moon is waning, which means it will get smaller and smaller each night. “The meteors will spread out across the sky, so simply facing to the north-east on the night of the 22nd should be enough to see a few for yourself.
