Sun rises at 5:52am
Sun sets at 6:30pm
Moon phase: first quarter, waxing crescent
Moon rises at 10:49am Saturday
Moon sets at 12:14am Sunday
This weekend is all about shooting stars or – as astronomers call them – meteors! We will be watching late at night Saturday, or better yet in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, for the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Assuming you’re in a dark location with a cloud-free sky, you really can’t go wrong by getting up in the hours before dawn Sunday and gazing skyward. Best viewing will be accomplished with a lawn chair in the reclining position, a friend similarly situated nearby, and a thermos of coffee or cocoa. Binoculars are no help with meteor watching.
Even if you don’t see any meteors, you’ll have a great view of the three morning planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, plus the lovely and brilliant star Antares! These will all grace the southern sky this weekend. Enjoy! The Lyrid meteor shower has the distinction of being one of the oldest known meteor showers. The ancient Chinese reported that the Lyrid meteors “fell like rain” in the year 687 BC.
Okay, as soon as I say there will be meteors, I always get this question: “Where should I look?” The answer is up! You see, because the streaks of light slice across the sky, you don’t need to know where they start in order to see them. The idea that you must recognize a meteor shower’s radiant point in order to see any meteors is completely false. Any meteors visible in the sky often appear unexpectedly, in any and all parts of the sky. But let’s talk about the point of origin in our sky, which is how every annual meteor shower gets its name.
This weekend, we have the Lyrid Meteor Shower, which means the streaks will appear to us to emanate from the constellation Lyra. They will shoot out in all directions, but if you can imagine tracing each one back, they all will seem to radiate out from Lyra the Harp. This constellation is marked by the bright star Vega. But remember, you don’t need to identify Vega or its constellation Lyra in order to watch the Lyrid meteor shower. However, knowing the rising time of the radiant point helps you know when the shower is best in your sky. The higher Vega climbs into the sky, the more meteors you’re likely to see.
Lyra rises over the eastern horizon around 11:00pm this weekend. It will climb to its zenith at around 4:30am both nights. The Lyrid meteor shower will peak through the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning, but will most likely be gone by Monday night.
What is the source of the Lyrid meteors?
This is a different question than: What is their radiant point? And the answer is in fact very interesting. It’s a comet named Thatcher. Every year in April, the Earth passes through the debris field of the Comet Thatcher. Bits and pieces shed by this comet litter its orbital path and as the Earth moves through that debris field, the bits are vaporized, making streaks of light through the night-time with medium-fast Lyrid meteors.
It’s when Earth passes through an unusually thick zone of comet rubble that an elevated number of meteors can be seen. Astronomers are predicting this Lyrid meteor shower will display between 10 and 20 meteors per hour at its peak. In rare instances, Lyrid meteors can bombard the sky with up to nearly 100 meteors per hour.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
