Starwatch: Lyrid meteor shower returns to the spring skies

This week, the annual Lyrid meteor shower returns to the spring skies. Although active since 16 April, the shower peaks during the late evening of Wednesday 22 April and early the next morning. The chart shows the view looking east from London at 00.01 (BST) on Thursday 23 April. The origin point of the meteors, known as the radiant, is labelled Lyrids. It sits in the constellation of Lyra, the Lyre, close to the bright star of Vega. The meteors will appear to emanate from the radiant, fanning out in all directions at a maximum rate of about 18 an hour. The meteors themselves are characterised by being bright and fast, sometimes leaving smokey ‘trains’ across the sky. Records of the Lyrids stretch back to 687BC. In more recent times, their origin has been tied to comet Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. The meteoroids that burn up in our atmosphere to produce the meteor shower were once part of the comet’s tail of dust. The best views will probably come after midnight and when your eyes have adjusted to the dark – a process that takes 20 to 30 minutes. The view from the southern hemisphere is restricted because the radiant will lie low in the northern sky.