THE LYRID METEOR SHOWER ACTIVE RIGHT NOW AND PEAKING ON APRIL 22ND!!! PLUS THE START OF THE ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER!! – BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SHOOTING STARS!!!! 💖🌠✨️
QUICK SUMMARY
Parent Body – Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher
Radiant Constellation – Lyra / Hercules
Shower activity between – 14th of April – 30th of April
Peak activity – 21st-22nd of April
Peak meteor count – variable – on average up to 20 meteors per hour in perfect conditions
After a long meteor drought, we are finally about to be treated to another meteor shower. The annual Lyrid meteor shower returns to our evening skies in April, marking one of the first major meteor showers of 2025. The first being the Quadrantids in January. Whilst not being the most intense meteor shower, this shower on average produces up to 20 meteors an hour and is known for its bright fast meteors.
There is also another stronger meteor shower that will overlap the Lyrids and be active from the 19th of April named the eta Aquarids. This means there will be two showers active at the same time increasing our chances of viewing meteors. We will make a post about the Aquarids closer to their peak date.
This year in particular is a great year to observe the Lyrids because the moon won't be in the sky all night long, which means it won’t be causing natural light pollution and allowing us to see more meteors.
All in all, it’s a great time to spot meteors and well worth spending an hour or two out star gazing on these beautiful and much warmer Spring nights.
If you would like more information about the Lyrid meteor shower including when to look, where to look, what causes meteor showers, and more, please read on…
THE LYRID METEOR SHOWER
The Lyrid Meteor Shower is so named because the radiant point from which its meteors appear to radiate from is located nearby to the constellation of Lyra. Technically speaking, the radiant for this meteor shower is actually located within the boundaries of the constellation of Hercules during most of its active period but travels into Lyra for its last few days of activity.
The annual Lyrid meteor shower is always a welcome sight after four months without a major meteor shower and generally produces fast and bright meteors. Although the Lyrids tend to not be as fast or plentiful as other famous showers, they can be surprisingly heavy showers with as many as 100 meteors per hour in an outburst year (a year with particularly intense showers). Sightings of some of these outburst showers occurred in 1803 – Virginia, 1922 – Greece, 1945 – Japan and 1982 – USA.
On an average year, the Lyrid meteor shower usually produces up to around 20 meteors an hour during their peak under clear, dark skies. Light pollution and other factors however, mean that the number of visible meteors may be far less.
An interesting fact about the Lyrid meteor shower is that it is one of the oldest known meteor showers. Records of this shower go back for some 2,700 years. The oldest recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 BC when the ancient Chinese observed the Lyrid meteors “falling like rain”.
Lyrid meteors tend not to leave long persistent trains behind them, but can occasionally produce super bright meteors known as fireballs, which are exceptionally bright meteors (brighter than Venus) or bolide meteors (brighter than the Moon) that blaze across the night sky amazing all those that witness them. Sometimes you can even observe these meteors breaking up into fragments which we have witnessed with all of our guests during one of our stargazing events. These meteors are typically travelling at a velocity of 29 miles per second and they enter the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of roughly 104,400 miles per hour!
WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM? / PARENT BODY
Most meteor showers are caused by comet debris that crosses Earth’s orbit, some showers are caused by asteroid debris.
The meteors from the Lyrid meteor shower are thought to be produced by dust grains and debris left behind by a comet known as Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861 by astronomer AE Thatcher.
The comet has an orbital period of 422 years (orbiting the Sun every 422 years) and will not return to the inner solar system until the year 2283.
WHAT CAUSES THE LIGHT FROM METEORS?
As a comet or asteroid travels through space, it leaves a trail of dust and debris behind it. When Earth intersects these trails, we slam into the dust and debris in their wake. The debris then enters the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly high speed, generating immense amounts of energy released in the form of intense heat and light. Meteors tend to vary from the size of a sand grain to about as big as a pea. The bigger the piece of debris, the bigger and brighter the meteor.
When a meteoroid particle strikes the upper atmosphere at high speed, it heats up to around 1,650°C and starts to glow. The meteoroid also compresses and heats the air in front of it, exciting atoms like oxygen which in turn radiate light. Together, the two processes produce the bright, needle-like flashes known as meteors or "shooting stars."
Occasionally, a meteoroid may be large enough to survive it’s fiery journey through our atmosphere, landing somewhere on Earth. When a meteoroid manages to land on our planet, it becomes known as a meteorite.
METEOR COLOURS ❤️💙💜🧡💛☄️
When meteoroids burn up in our atmosphere, they can sometimes create beautifully colourful trails behind them. The colours that meteors display are partly caused by the presence of traces of elements such as sodium, iron and calcium, the same elements that are used to make fireworks colourful.
These elements become ionised as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere and emit a beautiful range of different coloured meteor trails as their particles burn up in the atmosphere. The colours that are emitted depend on the elements being excited.
Here are the colours associated with different elements found in meteors: 👇
🟠 Orange-yellow — sodium;
🟡 Yellow — iron;
🔵 Blue-green — magnesium;
🟣 Violet — calcium;
🔴 Red — atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen.
The speed at which the meteor enters the Earth’s atmosphere can also affect the colour. The faster a meteor moves, the more intense it’s colour may appear.
WHEN IS THE PEAK / THE BEST NIGHT TO WATCH?
The Lyrid meteor shower occurs annually, and this year will be active from 14th of April to the 30th of April. The shower peaks in the early afternoon of the 22nd, the exact maximum peak time for the Lyrid meteor will be around 14:25 BST on the 22nd of April. This means the peak night for the shower will be the 22nd of April. However the night of the 21st into the early morning hours of the 22nd will also show high activity. Don’t worry if you miss the peak night, there’s plenty of time to look out for meteors over the next couple of weeks or so.
There are however other factors such as your viewing location and the Moon’s position and phase that will affect how easy it is to view meteors that need to be considered.
WHERE TO VIEW FROM / VIEWING LOCATION
The location that you do your stargazing from can make a big difference to the amount of stars and in this case shooting stars that are possible to see in the night sky. The darker your viewing location, the more of the fainter meteors from a shower will be visible.
Ideally you want to find a safe dark location, with clear views of the sky, and as far away from sources of light such as street lights as possible.
NIGHT VISION
Try not to look at sources of light such as your mobile phone or the Moon for around 15 minutes or so, this will allow your eyes to adapt to the dark conditions of your location. After around 15-30 minutes of letting your eyes adapt to the dark, the pupils of your eyes will dilate to their maximum aperture and the receptors in your eyes that are responsible for night vision will be fully activated. This will allow more light to enter your eyes and fainter night sky objects will be easier to see.
If you need to use a torch to light your way, we recommend using a torch that emits only red light. Red light has much less of an effect on your night vision.
If you want to use your phone, use it on its lowest brightness and you can always cover the screen with a red film to minimise its effect on your night vision. Star map/planetarium apps such as Stellarium often have a night mode that displays only in red light which can also help you keep your night vision.
Another tip to help you see more on nights with a bright moon or other source of light is to keep the light out of sight. Try to keep your back to the Moon or any lights or if you have a large tree or building nearby to your location, try blocking the light from your line of sight with the tree/building. This can help stop a bright Moon/light from ruining your dark adapted night vision.
WHERE TO LOOK / THE RADIANT
The radiant for the Lyrid meteor shower can be located nearby to the constellation of Lyra the harp. The exact location for the radiant can be found in between super bright star Vega of the constellation Lyra, and the constellation of Hercules.
You don’t need to know exactly where the meteors radiate from because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. However, knowing where the radiant is may help you increase your chances of viewing meteors. If you can locate the radiant, try looking at a dark part of the sky around 45 degrees away to maximise your chances of viewing meteors. Meteors seen closer to the radiant will appear shorter / leave shorter trails compared to others further away from the radiant.
WHEN TO LOOK / RADIANT CONTINUED
As with many meteor showers (the Moon aside) the best time to head out and watch meteor showers is usually on the peak night between midnight and dawn, when the radiant is (usually) high in the sky and the skies are darkest. Don’t worry if you can’t head out this late/early, there should still be plenty of meteors about earlier in the night.
Although more meteors may be visible when the radiant is highest in the sky, the main thing we need to know about a meteor shower radiant, is that it has risen above the horizon. Once the radiant has risen in the sky there will be a higher chance of seeing meteors, and the higher the radiant has risen, the more meteors will be visible. Usually, if you wait until gone midnight the radiant will be higher in the sky and you will have a much greater chance of seeing meteors.
The exact time the Lyrids will show maximum activity will be during daylight in the afternoon of the 22nd of April at around 14:25 BST, and so it will be worth meteor watching over the night of the 21st into the early morning of the 22nd, as well as the night of the 22nd into the morning of the 23rd to maximise your chances of seeing meteors.
On both of these nights the radiant will be at its highest in the bright morning twilight skies (not the best for meteor viewing).
On the night of the 21st, the radiant for the Lyrids will rise above the horizon during daylight at around 18:10 and will reach its highest point in the sky on the 22rd at around 05:04.
On the night of the 22nd, the radiant for the Lyrids will rise above the horizon during daylight at around 18:09. The radiant for the Lyrids will reach its highest point in the sky on the 23rd at around 05:02.
All things considered, it may be best to go meteor watching in the early morning of the 21st and the evening of the 22nd.
If you head out early in the evening you might also be treated to something called an “Earth grazer” meteor (long, slow, colourful meteors that skim across the edge of our atmosphere).
THE MOON / DARK SKIES
Sometimes the glow of the Moon can interfere with a meteor shower and spoil meteor shower views by lighting up the night sky and washing out the fainter meteors. When the Moon is bright it leaves only the brightest of meteors visible.
Fortunately for this year’s Lyrids, the Moon will be between only 38% - 28% illuminated for the nights of the 21st and 22nd, and will be rising at 04:22 and 04:43 on the mornings of the 23rd and 24th respectively. This means the Moon will not be above the horizon for the nights of peak activity, allowing us to see more of the fainter meteors from the Quadrantid meteor shower.
VIEWING TIPS
• You don’t need a telescope or any special equipment, just your eyes and a bit of patience.
• Find a safe, dark location with clear unobstructed views and as far away from streetlights as possible. The darker your location, the more meteors you will see. Don’t worry if you can’t get somewhere dark, even if your viewing location isn’t very dark, you should still see the brighter meteors.
• Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness and you will see more meteors. Our eyes require time to adjust to low levels of light. Try not to look at bright lights (such as a phone) for around 15-30 minutes and this will allow you to see many more meteors. If you do require to use a torch, use one which emits red light as this interferes with your night vision less than white light.
• If you have a source of light nearby, try blocking it from you view to minimise its effect on your night vision.
• Be mindful of other stargazers when using a torch, you don’t want to ruin others meteor shower experience!
• You don’t need to know where the radiant for a meteor shower is to be able to view meteors but if you do, it can help. Once you’ve located the radiant in the sky, looking halfway between the horizon and the zenith (directly upwards), and 45 degrees from the radiant will improve your chances of viewing meteors (however, pay attention to the whole sky as they can appear anywhere). The closer to the radiant you look, the shorter the meteors will appear. The further away from the radiant you look, the longer they will appear.
• You might want to take a blanket to lay on or a chair to recline in, so your neck doesn’t get strained whilst looking up.
• If you head out, wrap up well! Although our nights are becoming much warmer, it can still get quite chilly when meteor watching. Bring a blanket to cover yourself in and a flask with a warm drink for extra comfort. ❄️🧤🧣
• You may wish to gather some of your friends and family to share this magical occasion too. You could always host a meteor watching party with music and drinks (but no bright lights!).
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NIGHT SKY THROUGHOUT APRIL?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout April, please head to our YouTube channel to watch our Night Sky Guide video for April 2025.
https://youtu.be/t-DVnh9HSI8?si=NNwFeNgvwkqDbCPw
CLOSING WORDS FROM ASTRO DOG
After a long meteor shower drought, we are super excited to have the chance to see another great meteor shower. We can’t wait to see if we witness any amazing fireballs during the Lyrid meteor shower and we hope you all get to see some too!
As ever, interactions or shares are a great help, and we are eternally grateful for all your support.
Good luck everyone and clear skies!!! 💖
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