The Lyrid meteor shower is back, and experts expect the light show to peak in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, April 23.
As The Dallas Express reported, last year’s Lyrid meteor shower peaked on the evening of Friday, April 22, just in time for Earth Day. It broke what had been a three-month drought for stargazers trying to spot a shooting star.
This year the Lyrids came a bit early, with the first shooting stars spotted on April 15.
But don’t worry; the most promising stretches for meteor-watching are the pre-dawn hours of April 20 to 23, per Earth Sky, so there is still time to see them this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In Dallas, dawn will be around 6:25 a.m. over these next three days.
The last Lyrids will grace the skies around April 29.
The first-ever record of the Lyrid meteor shower dates back to 687 B.C. in China, making it one of the very oldest celestial sights, per NASA.
Traveling at about 29 miles per second, the Lyrids are fast dust trails of bright light that occur as the Earth passes through the debris field of Comet Thatcher.
Comet Thatcher was discovered in 1861 and orbits the Sun every 415.5 years. Yet it passes Earth every year, and the brush of its dusty tail against our atmosphere creates these light shows.
To spot a shooting star, look toward the Lyra constellation in the northern sky. This is the harp-shaped constellation that contains Vega, one of the brightest stars.
Don’t look too hard at Vega, as your eyes need to adapt to the dark for the best shot at seeing the Lyrids. Lie on your back, point your feet east, and be patient, per NASA.
In a dark sky with no moonlight, you might see 18 Lyrids per hour.
On rare occasions, stargazers have been pleasantly surprised by an astounding 100 meteors spotted per hour, which happened in 1982.
Other celestial events are happening this year, if the Lyrids whet your appetite for more.
As The Dallas Express reported, a spectacular solar eclipse will be visible at around noon on Saturday, October 14.
While it is expected to be visible across Texas if the weather cooperates, the longest window of visibility will be on Whitecap Beach, located on the Padre Island National Seashore.
The solar eclipse will be visible there from 11:56 a.m. to about noon at 49 degrees above the south-southeast horizon.
