Look up tonight! The Lyrid meteor shower will reach its peak with more than a dozen shooting stars per hour

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Look up tonight! The Lyrid meteor shower will reach its peak with more than a dozen shooting stars per hour (but it rivals an ultra-bright moon)

  • Lyrid meteor shower arrives in the northern hemisphere tonight
  • Experts say the peak will be between tonight and the hours before dusk
  • Although a bright moon may dull the shower, it will probably still be visible

By James Pero For Dailymail.com

Published on: 1:19 pm EDT, April 22, 2019 | Update: 1:19 pm EDT, April 22, 2019

The Lyrid meteor shower returns for its annual dance across the night sky, and despite a brighter moon than usual, astronomers can still follow a few steps to ensure they have the best overview possible.

According to NASA, the peak of the annual meteor shower will be tonight in the night of tomorrow, coinciding with a brilliant descending gibbous moon, a phase approaching the full moon.

This means that, with added moonlight, the show will likely be hard to watch apart from the brightest meteors, according to experts.

That's not to say that the shower is a lost cause, though.

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The Lyrid is not perhaps the brightest meteor shower, but it's one of the oldest observed.

The Lyrid is not perhaps the brightest meteor shower, but it's one of the oldest observed.

This year, researchers from the giant Magellan telescope have published a handy infographic that should help astronomers put themselves in the best position for visualization.

According to experts, shower watchers can hope to watch TV at the right time.

According to Magellan's astronomers, the optimal observation occurs a few hours before dawn, no matter where you are in the northern hemisphere, where the shower will be visible.

Although telescopes enhance viewer fidelity, meteors are usually visible to the naked eye.

Experts say the bright moon could tarnish the shine of the Lyrid, but observers will still be able to see it. It may be useful to use a telescope to see more clearly, but you can see them with the naked eye.

Experts say the bright moon could tarnish the shine of the Lyrid, but observers will still be able to see it. It may be useful to use a telescope to see more clearly, but you can see them with the naked eye.

To locate where the meteors will pass, viewers can use the brightest star of the Lyra constellation to find what astronomers call the "radiant".

To locate where the meteors will pass, viewers can use the brightest star of the Lyra constellation to find what astronomers call the "radiant".

To locate where the meteors will pass, viewers can use the brightest star of the Lyra constellation to find what astronomers call the "radiant".

This is the point in the sky from which the meteors become visible to us on Earth. In some cases, meteors were observed crossing the sky at 100 per hour.

On average, meteors spend between 15 and 20 hours per hour.

Lyrid meteors are created by comet Thatcher. Each year, the Earth crosses Thatcher's dusty tail and we see particles of the comet spinning across the sky where they usually burn. The meteor spikes move at around 110,000 mph.

Although the Lyrids are not the most brilliant rain observed by humans – the Perseuds and Geminids surpass them – it is one of the oldest.

The particles of the comet Thatcher create the dust we see entering the earth 's atmosphere.

The particles of the comet Thatcher create the dust we see entering the earth 's atmosphere.

In the last 2,700 years, astronomers have been watching the Lyrids with the first ever recorded viewing from ancient China in 687 BC.

Unfortunately for novice Lyrid viewers, comet Thatcher at the beginning of the showers made his rare appearance for observers last year and will not be coming back soon for television.

The following year, the earthlings will observe Thatcher and will meet again in 2276, the Comet having an orbital period of 415 years.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPACE ROCKS?

A asteroid is a large piece of rock left by collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the main belt.

A comet is a rock covered with ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits move them much further away from the solar system.

A meteor This is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris is consumed.

This debris itself is known as meteoroid. Most are so small that they vaporize in the atmosphere.

If one of these meteoroids arrives on Earth, we call it a meteorite.

Meteors, meteorites and meteorites normally come from asteroids and comets.

For example, if the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, much of the debris is consumed in the atmosphere, forming a shower of meteorites.

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