Where to look for the Lyrid meteor shower. Credit NASA
Unlike several of the popular annual meteor showers in recent times, this weekend the Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak intensity this year during a new moon. Without the light from a moon in the sky, the skies will be darker and should allow those on the ground to see a lot more meteors during the shower.
According to reports from NASA, the nation’s space agency, perhaps one of the best viewing opportunities for the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower will be tonight April 21 from just before midnight to the early hours of the morning on Sunday.
Sky watchers (such as me) are in for a rare treat this weekend. Sky conditions permitting, the annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks with the best observing between midnight and dawn Saturday night/Sunday morning. But that’s not all, celestially speaking. Saturn is just a week from opposition (i.e., directly opposite the sun with Earth in between) such that Saturn’s rings are at an optimal angle for viewing – even with a small telescope as the planet rides high in the sky. Saturn doesn’t reach opposition again until 2017.
While the Lyrids are not typically one of the most intense meteor showers, typically having a frequency of fewer than 20 meteors per hour, there have been occassions in the past when this meteor shower can boast rates upwards of over one hundred meteors per hour.
The Lyrid meteors are debirs from comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, and as particles estimated to have broken away from the comet’s tail several thousands of years in the past. To know where to look to see the Lyrid meteor shower, look to the constellation Lyra for which the meteor shower is named.
The constellation Lyra will rise in the northern hemisphere near 10 PM eastern.and should be directly overhead by midnight creating a spectacular viewing experience for those with a lawn chair or a blanket on the ground.
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