The Lyrids Meteor Shower

The Lyrids – the April showers… 21st/22nd April
Ok, so the Lyrids aren’t (usually) the most blazingly brilliant meteor shower, at about 10-20 fast showers per hour. BUT, occasionally the Lyrids have a huge outburst of about 100-150 & we don’t really understand why. It can’t be predicted (so far) so it may just be that this year there will be a huge light show. After a quiet few months only seeing a few random stray streaks, I love this shower because it heralds the coming of more regular night shows. The Lyrids have been seen for almost 2500 years, perhaps because it has such a sharp peak & the absence of activity during the winter. This makes us believe that the mother comet, Thatcher has been on this present course for over 2500 years.

The moon will be in the 1st Quarter, so there will be a little light interference but not too much. Whilst you’re skywatching you can check out Mars near the moon and the Beehive cluster (M44). On the "other side of the sky" you will find the constellations Lyra, Hercules and Cygnus and locate the radiant. Spot Vega. The Lyrids are very fast, so you may have to chase them backwards. Here’s hoping that’ll it’ll be an unpredicted large display!

Best viewing time is between Midnight & Dawn on the Thursday 22nd April, although the day before or after may also have some meteors too. Enjoy the show!

If you're out the night of the 21st or the wee hours of the 22nd before the moon sets you will be able to check out the moon and mars in the cancer constellation. Between them is the beehive cluster. If like most folk, Orion is your nearest anchor point in the sky, track from Orion to Gemini, to Cancer (a fairly faint constellation, with moon and mars), Leo and Virgo with Saturn above Spica.

If you only go out Skywatching one night this month - the evening of the 21st, into the wee hours of the 22nd is the night for you. Dress warmly, find a dark skies spot and try and get in a position that takes in as much of the sky as possible. A camp bed or blankets to lie and view the whole sky is the best spot. Company and a hot drink, possibly with added warming qualities such as a hot toddy or my favourite at the moment - chai with lemocello. Enjoy.