Lyrids or April Lyrids are meteors which fall during the month of April. The normally last from April 16 to April 25 every year. It’s the constellation of Lyra the Harp and it’s radiant biggest star; Vega. The peak of the shower is typically around April 22 each year.
Usually, meteor shower is a celestial event in which number of meteors originate from one point of the sky. These are radiated as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds. They are as small as the size of the grain of the sand and normally disintegrate while travelling except the bigger ones. Very rarely occurs the meteor storms or outbursts.
How Do These Occur :
April Lyrids are originally the broken pieces or particles of the long-period Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. These long period comets go around 200 to 10,00 years. Lyrids are actually the strongest annual shower of the long period comet debris. Although, the orbital period of the same is shorter which is around 415 years.
With several clear nights ahead, it could be a good time to catch the beginning of the Lyrid meteor shower as debris from Comet Thatcher collides with Earth's atmosphere. This meteor shower has been observed for 2,700 years!
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— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) April 15, 2021
The peak period is usually on April 22 and April 23 morning. The average meteor falling range is 10 meteors per hour. Because of the pollution blanket around urban people see it dimmer compared to the people living in the rural areas. April Lyrid meteors are usually around magnitude +2.
Where To Watch Lyrids ?
Some Lyrids are easily visible with naked eyes; are known as Lyrid fireballs. These appear for a split of a second and leave behind a trail which lasts around for a minute. We will see most of the meteors after the radiant has passed the horizon.
Best time to watch Lyrids is late evening until the moonrise. In 2022, the last quarter moon interfere nights of April 21-22 and 22-23.In 1982, amateur astronomers counted 90 April Lyrids per hour at the peak and similar rates were seen in 1922. A stronger storm of up to 700 per hour occurred in 1803, and was observed by a journalist in Richmond, Virginia.
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