The Lyrid meteor shower comes to skies in the Northern Hemisphere. Apri 21 -22
Lyrid meteor shower 2020 coincides with a new moon on Tuesday giving stargazers especially dark skies to watch the celestial spectacle – with up to 15 shooting stars visible per hour
The Lyrid meteor shower comes to skies in the Northern Hemisphere this month
Experts say the peak will be between April 21-22 at the hours before dusk
The shower should be more visible than usual as it coincides with a new Moon
Last years Lyrids happened at the same time as a bright waning gibbous moon — a phase that comes very close to being a full moon.
The Lyrids are rock and dust left behind by the comet C/1861 G (Thatcher) as the Earth drifts through a cloud of debris left behind by the icy space rock.
Every year, the Earth intersects with Thatcher's dusty tail and particles of the comet are seen streaking through the sky where the usually burn up.
Specks of meteor travel at about 110,000 mph.
While meteor showers create streaks in the sky that can be seen on Earth from miles away, the meteoroids that cause them are actually quite small.
Some meteors leave brilliant trails behind them in the form of ionized gas.
‘Meteor showers on Earth are caused by streams of meteoroids hitting our atmosphere,’ explains an interactive website that plots all the meteor streams that orbit the sun.
‘These meteoroids are sand- and pebble-sized bits of rock that were once released from their parent comet.
‘Some comets are no longer active and are now called asteroids'.
To see the shooting stars you will need to be in an area of low light pollution with a clear sky with minimal cloud cover.
According to astronomers, optimal viewing is in the few hours before dawn no matter where you are in the Northern Hemisphere.
While telescopes would enhance the fidelity for viewers, the meteors can usually be seen with the naked eye.
To locate where the meteors will be passing through, viewers can use the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra to find what astronomers call the 'radiant.'
[img width=600]https://i2.wp.com/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRI_149344739.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=644%2C428&ssl=1[/img]
