The world’s oldest known meteor shower will be visible tonight, with space rocks whizzing past at 30 miles per second.
The Royal Greenwich Observatory said this year, the Lyrids will be visible from April 16 to April 25.
They peaked last night between April 21 and the early hours of April 22, but you haven’t missed it: the meteors will stick around for another couple of nights.
Once a year, the Earth passes through the trail left by the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, creating the oldest recorded meteor shower still visible, after it was first spotted in 687 BCE.
Its name comes from the Lyra constellation, where they appear to originate from in the sky, even though in reality they have nothing to do with the distant stars.
The sky will light up as the meteors whizz past at around 30 miles per second, moving so fast the air particles in front can’t get out of the way in time.
Instead, they’re rapidly compressed and start to heat up, raising the temperature around the meteor to as high as 1,600C° – causing the meteor to shine brightly as it streaks across the sky.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is the best time to see the Lyrid meteor shower?
The Lyrids began on April 16 and will be visible until April 25.
Last night offerered the best chance of seeing them, but with many areas seeing clear skies at least for periods tonight, it’s still well worth looking up.
Best spot to view Lyrid meteor shower
Greenwich Observatory said the best way to see the showers is at a dark site with an unobstructed view of the sky.
The Lyrids are visible with the naked eye, so no specialist equipment is needed to watch the spectacle, and they will be visible across the UK.
How many are visible will depend on factors such as the amount of light pollution and the level of cloud cover.
The observatory added: ‘While the Lyrid meteors will be visible all across the sky, following their path backwards, they will appear to originate from the constellation of Lyra, the lyre, which contains the star Vega.
‘In reality, the meteors have nothing to do with this distant group of stars. The direction they appear to come from is dictated by the motion of the Earth and the debris itself.
‘All of the meteors are coming in approximately parallel to one another, like lanes of traffic on a straight motorway. Our perspective makes them appear to travel sideways across the sky.
‘Just as a person standing on the central reservation of the motorway will have cars pass on either side of them, the meteors will appear to diverge from the so-called radiant point in Lyra and streak across the sky in all directions.’
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