The Lyrid meteor shower is the first major meteor shower of the year – and it’s set to treat us all to some fireballs tonight (if you’re lucky).
With a nearly-full Moon at the meteor shower’s peak, conditions this year are sadly unfavourable. However, although the Perseid meteor shower (in mid-July to August) is the reigning champion at producing fireballs, the Lyrids also have tantalising potential for fireballs.
It’s one of the oldest-known meteor showers, with recorded observations dating back at least 2,700 years. Chinese astronomers were the first to report the Lyrids, when there was an outburst of activity in 687 BC. Systematic studies of the meteor shower didn’t begin until the 19th century, however, when further outbursts occurred in 1803 and 1833.
So how can you get the best chance at spotting a Lyrid? What causes this meteor shower? And which direction should you look?
If conditions this year are just too frustrating, why not check out our astrophotography guide, and learn how to take your best-ever picture of the Moon.
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When can you see the Lyrid meteor shower in 2024?
The best time to see the Lyrid meteor shower is during its peak on Monday night (22-23 April 2024) in the UK and US. However, this is at the same time as an almost-full Moon (the full pink Moon is the night after, 23-24 April) – which is not only bright but above the horizon most of the night. The best time to see the Lyrids is the hours before dawn.
The shower began on 14 April 2024 and will continue until 30 April. It’s a recurring shower and occurs on roughly the same dates every year.
Where to look to spot a Lyrid
The radiant for the Lyrids – this is the point in the sky from which meteors appear to originate – is in the constellation Lyra the Lyre.
The radiant for the Lyrids will rise higher as the night goes on during the shower’s peak. The higher the radiant, the more chance we have of seeing shooting stars, and the less chance they’ll be lost below the horizon.
Look approximately two-thirds up the sky (around 60-degree altitude), and slightly away from the radiant. Meteor trails will look longer around 90 degrees from the radiant, making them easier to spot. Try to take in as much of the sky as you can in your line of vision.
Situated between the Summer Triangle and the constellation Hercules, Lyra is one of the smallest constellations. Thankfully, it’s also one of the most distinctive, as it forms an obvious parallelogram and contains Vega – a brilliant white star, and the fifth brightest in the night sky.
Star-hopping is a great way to help you locate Lyra:
First, locate the Summer Triangle asterism: Lyra is a prominent constellation within the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle is formed by three bright stars: Vega (in Lyra), Altair (in Aquila the Eagle), and Deneb (in Cygnus the Swan). Look for these three stars, which should be visible in the eastern sky during the evening hours in April.
Identify Vega: Vega is the brightest star in Lyra and serves as a key marker for locating the constellation. It’s a bright, bluish-white star, making it easy to spot.
Trace the Shape of Lyra: Once you’ve found Vega, look for the distinctive parallelogram shape that forms the main body of Lyra. Vega marks one of the corners of this shape. From there (and with a bit of imagination) you can see the rest of the constellation’s outline. Lyra resembles a small harp or lyre.
And if all else fails, grab your phone and download an astronomy app to show you what’s what (remember to use your phone’s red-light filter).
How visible will the Lyrids be?
When the meteor shower peaks on 22-23 April, the Moon will be at around 99 per cent illumination. It will also be above the horizon for most of the night. The full Moon (the April Pink Moon) occurs the night after on 23-24 April, so conditions this year are challenging.
At 99 per cent illumination, the bright Moon will drown out all but the brightest meteors, planets, stars and constellations. It will also extend a glow over the entire sky (called a ‘moon glare’), which further hampers proceedings.
Then there’s the effect on our eye’s dark adaptation. We always recommend that you take 10-20 minutes to let your eyes get accustomed to the dark. Otherwise, it’s easy to become discouraged at not being able to see anything after emerging from a brightly lit room. The bright light from the almost-full Moon can slow down and interrupt our accumulated dark vision, making meteors even harder to spot.
That’s not to say this year’s Lyrids are peaking under totally impossible conditions. We’ll still have a shot at spotting some of the brighter meteors, including potential fireballs.
How many meteors will we actually be able to see?
With perfect conditions, a radiant that’s high overhead and dark skies, we can expect to see around 18 meteors per hour. The number of visible meteors varies year-on-year, with most years yielding between 10-20 meteors. However this year, thanks to that nuisance-of-a-moon, it will be significantly less.
“Due to the bright Full Moon occurring within a day of the peak of this meteor shower, only the brightest few meteors will be bright enough to outshine the glare of the Moon, and so we may only spot 3 or 4 meteors every hour this year,” explains Dr Darren Baskill, an astrophysicist from the University of Sussex.
“The best meteor shower this year will be the Perseids in mid-August, once the Moon has set. Then, we could see a meteor every 5 minutes from towns and cities, and as many as one a minute from the darkest sites around the world!”
What causes the Lyrid meteor shower?
Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through a field of debris left behind by a comet or asteroid.
This debris orbits the Sun, in the same way that Earth also orbits the Sun. And when Earth’s orbit intersects with this debris field, the little bits of dust and particulates burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. This produces bright streaks of light that we see as meteors (shooting stars).
Most meteor-producing particles are around the size of a grain of sand, while larger fragments produce fireballs.
When we talk about a meteor shower ‘peaking’, that’s when we’re passing through the ‘core’ (the densest part) of the debris stream and more meteors are visible.
The Lyrids are known for their bright, fast-moving meteors. They also tend to leave persistent trails in the sky, which is useful when contending with an interfering Moon.
The parent body of the Lyrids is a comet, comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. This is a long-period comet which orbits the Sun once every 415.5 years. It last reached perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in 1861, so we still have a long time before it returns to our neighbourhood (around the year 2276).
Lyrid meteor shower: Viewing tips
If you’re determined to try your luck, then there are a few things you can do to maximise your chances:
Minimise light pollution: Try to find a location away from bright lights. Keep any unavoidable lights out of your direct line of sight.
Allow night vision to develop: Let your eyes adjust to the darkness as best you can despite the interfering Moon. Sit outside for around 20 minutes, and you’ll notice you start to pick up more details in your surroundings.
Look away from the Moon: If you can, choose a spot where the Moon is obscured by foliage or buildings.
Look for meteor trains: Meteor trains can linger in the sky for several seconds after the initial meteor, giving you a better chance to spot the elusive visitors.
Use a red-light filter: If you need to look at your phone, books, or anything else, use a red-light filter. This will help you to avoid ruining your accumulated night vision.
Keep an eye out for fireballs: Although rare, we may have a chance at spotting some fireballs during the Lyrid meteor shower. These are often seen over a wide area and witnessed by many people, or caught on video doorbell cameras.
About our expert
Dr Darren Baskill is an outreach officer and lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He previously lectured at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where he also initiated the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
