The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks tonight (April 21) and Lowell Observatory will offer a special presentation at 7 p.m. to discuss the nature of this and other meteor showers.
Rain or shine, you can also enjoy indoor exhibits, our new ViewSpace mulitmedia astronomy display, programs with our mini planetarium, telescope dome tours and more.
The shower usually peaks on around April 22 and the morning of April 23. Counts typically range from 5 to 20 meteors per hour, averaging around ten. Observers in the country will see more, observers in the city less.
First a word about the moon — it is not your (the expectant meteor watcher’s) friend. Light reflecting off a bright moon can be just as detrimental to good meteor viewing as those bright lights of the big city. There is nothing you can do except howl at the moon, so you’ll have to put up with it or wait until the next favorable shower. Even though the 2010 Perseids and Geminids will share the night sky with the moon, they are still expected to produce more visible meteor activity than other major showers that don’t have an interfering moon.
It is not until after midnight that the earth is turned into the path of the comet, so if you go out early in the evening, you may see some meteors but not as many as you would later in the night. The best way to enjoy them is to throw a blanket on the ground and lie down so that you can see as much of the sky as possible. I plan to set my alarm for early morning to see if the skies are clear.
It’s the Lyrids! They will be here strongest between 1 and 3 in the morning. I probably won’t be getting up. It’s going to be cloudy here, and full of light pollution.
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