No matter what might be going on in our world, nature never closes, and the night sky never reschedules. Every April, the Lyrid Meteor Shower lights up the night with spectacular shooting stars. The meteor shower is always visible from North America, and this year, Montana should have a clear viewing.
The Lyrid Meteor Shower will take place from April 16 to April 26, with the peak viewing hours expected in the dark hours before dawn on April 22.
sugarbear96 / Flickr There won’t be a full moon during the shower this year, so visibility should be quite high.
The Lyrid Meteor Shower was actually the first shower ever recorded, dating all the way back to 687 B.C.
sugarbear96 / Flickr Who knows how long this beautiful natural phenomenon has really been happening?
The meteors appear to originate from the constellation Lyra.
Bill Dickinson / Flickr Lyra’s brightest star is called Alpha Lyrae, or Vega for short. And Vega is the fifth brightest star in the entire sky.
The comet responsible for the Lyrids is called Thatcher.
NASA HQ PHOTO / Flickr Thatcher sheds debris in the form of dust particles, which zoom across the sky at a rapid rate.
Typically, you can expect to see 10-15 meteors per hour during the shower.
sagesolar / Flickr But occasionally you can see surges of up to 100 meteors per hour. The surges are unpredictable, so it’s impossible to say when they’ll occur. But with any luck, we’ll see one during the peak viewing time this year.
Mark your calendars for these exciting weeks, and especially for April 22.
sugarbear96 / Flickr Head somewhere rural, look up at the night sky, and forget about life for a while.
Have you ever seen the Lyrid Meteor Shower? It’s quite an experience, especially those surges, so don’t wait until April of 2021 to check it out.
sugarbear96 / Flickr
There won’t be a full moon during the shower this year, so visibility should be quite high.
Who knows how long this beautiful natural phenomenon has really been happening?
Bill Dickinson / Flickr
Lyra’s brightest star is called Alpha Lyrae, or Vega for short. And Vega is the fifth brightest star in the entire sky.
NASA HQ PHOTO / Flickr
Thatcher sheds debris in the form of dust particles, which zoom across the sky at a rapid rate.
sagesolar / Flickr
But occasionally you can see surges of up to 100 meteors per hour. The surges are unpredictable, so it’s impossible to say when they’ll occur. But with any luck, we’ll see one during the peak viewing time this year.
sugarbear96 / Flickr
Head somewhere rural, look up at the night sky, and forget about life for a while.
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