Lyrid Meteor Shower to Light Up Skies This Week

The Lyrid meteor shower, radiating from Lyra near Vega, peaks the night of April 21–22, with dark-sky observers catching about 15–20 meteors per hour from around midnight through dawn (a second viewing opportunity follows Wednesday night). The debris comes from Comet Thatcher, streaking through the atmosphere at roughly 108,000 mph about 80 miles up. No special equipment is needed—just a dark location and a comfortable spot to lie back as Lyra rises in the northeast. Even city dwellers can glimpse bright Lyrids away from lights; if clouds block the sky, you can instead monitor meteors via radar using LiveMeteors, where brighter fireballs produce louder pings. A fun fact: the parent comet won’t return near Earth again until about 2283.