Lyrids
The Lyrids are an April meteor shower from Comet Thatcher, one of the oldest recorded showers.
The Lyrids peak around 22 to 23 April, with meteors appearing to come from near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. They usually give around 15 to 20 meteors per hour under dark skies, with occasional outbursts of around 90 or more, as happened in 1982.
They are produced by dust from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the Sun about every 415 years. The Lyrids have been observed for about 2,700 years: Chinese records from 687 BCE describe stars falling like rain, which is probably the earliest known account of a meteor shower.
Lyrid meteors travel at about 49 kilometres per second and can leave glowing trains. From the UK, the radiant is high in the sky after midnight, so the best views are in the hours before dawn. The Lyrids are a welcome shower after the quieter months of early spring.
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Level: Explorer Ages 10 and up