The Lyrid meteor shower is currently active, occurring between 14 and 30 April, with the peak in 2024 predicted for the early morning of 22 April.
Normally this would mean that the best time to see a Lyrid meteor in 2024 is this weekend, on the night of 21/22 April, into the hours just before dawn.
However, unlike in 2023, this year a bright full Moon will spoil the show, its lunar glare drowning out the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower and not setting until the onset of dawn, around 5am UTC.
Find out when the next meteor shower is happening and read our guide to what causes a meteor shower.
Observing the Lyrid meteor shower
When talking about meteor showers, the 'radiant' is the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to emanate.
The Lyrid meteor shower's radiant is in the constellation Lyra, and you can find it between the Summer Triangle asterism and the constellation Hercules.
When preparing to see one of the annual meteor showers, it also pays to consider the phases and rising and setting times of the Moon.
If peak activity occurs during a bright, full Moon, the dazzling lunar light will negatively affect how many meteors you can see.
And this is what makes the 2024 Lyrid meteor shower unfavourable: that bright Moon will drown out what you'll be able to see throughout the period of activity.
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Where to look to see the Lyrid meteor shower
Lyrid meteors appear to emanate from the radiant position, southwest of bright Vega (Alpha (α) Lyrae), which can be found in the constellation Lyra.
Vega is also part of the informal star pattern - or asterism - known as the Summer Triangle.
This makes it particularly easy to trace a trail back to see whether it did indeed come from the radiant location.
Technically, the radiant sits in Hercules at the time of peak activity.
Zenithal Hourly Rate explained
Meteor showers are awkward in the world of astronomy.
Although you can predict when a shower’s peak period of activity will occur, you cannot specify exactly when and where individual meteor trails will be seen.
The number of trails expected during a shower’s peak period is expressed by a quantity known as the Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR).
A ZHR value is calculated by noting the number of shower meteors seen in a set period of time. Shower trails emanate from a small area of sky known as the shower radiant.
However, the ZHR value assumes perfect placement of the radiant, overhead at the zenith.Among other things, it also assumes perfect skies and your ability to see the entire sky in one view.
It varies depending on sky quality, date and time of day.
In practice, few of these conditions is met, so the experienced visual hourly rate (VHR) will be less than the quoted ZHR.
How to see a Lyrid meteor
To observe the Lyrid meteor shower:
- Find a place away from any stray lights
- Give yourself at 20 minutes in total darkness for your eyes to dark adapt
- Avoid looking at bright light sources such as a mobile phone
- Use a garden recliner or an astronomy chair that avoids you straining your neck to look upwards
- Stare up at an angle of about 60˚, two-thirds up the sky from horizon to zenith
- Look in any direction, but preferably the one in which the sky looks darkest.
- Aim to observe for periods of at least 30–60 minutes between short breaks.
- If you spot a meteor whose trail heads back towards the radiant point, you've seen a Lyrid!
What is a meteor shower?
We see a meteor in the sky when a small particle - on average about the same size as a grain of sand - vaporises in Earth's atmosphere. The path of light across the sky is known as a meteor trail.
Most meteor showers are associated with comets, but some are linked with asteroids, such as the Geminid meteor shower, which is associated with 3200 Phaethon.
As a comet repeatedly orbits the Sun, it spreads dust around the orbit.
Earth passes through these dust streams as it orbits the Sun, causing particles to vaporise in the atmosphere. When this happens, the number of trails we can see increases.
We experience peak activity of meteor showers when Earth is passing through the most dense section of the stream.
Meteor trails appear to come from a specific area of the sky, which is known as the 'radiant'. This slowly moves over the duration of the shower.
The constellation in which peak activity appears to occur is what gives each meteor shower its name.
You might have heard of the Perseid meteor shower, for example, which shows peak activity when the radiant is in the constellation Perseus.
