The Lyrid Meteor Shower expected to peak this week

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Here are a few things to know about the Lyrid Meteor Shower, which is expected to peak this week:

  • It is active from April 16-25. The peak of the event will occur Thursday night into Friday morning.
  • This year there will also be a full moon to deal with. The moonlight will likely bring enough to hinder chances of seeing many meteors.
  • The Lyrids can produce about 10 to 20 meteors per hour but they can also be unpredictable. According to NASA if the Earth passes through a dense area of debris from the Comet Thatcher there may be even more meteors or an outburst.
  • The radiant, or point where meteors seem to be coming from for this shower is the constellation Lyra. Meteors will appear to radiate from this constellation even though they don't actually come from the constellation.

Even though clouds and the moon may hinder the ability to view this shower, feel free to head outside at night when it is active and see if you get lucky!

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