13 April 2024 , 09:09
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A spectacular light show is set to illuminate the night skies above Britain as a meteor shower starts this weekend.
The Lyrid meteor shower is due to kick off on Sunday (April 14) with stargazers predicting as many as 18 meteors per hour. The incredible display, which will take place nightly until the end of April, occurs as the Earth passes through the debris of a comet.
When Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher passed through the solar system it left a trail of small space debris behind it. As Earth draws close to this debris some is attracted by our planet’s gravity and burns up in the atmosphere.
The chunks of rock and space dust will hurtle through the atmosphere at about 50 kilometers per second, reaching temperatures of 1600C and leaving amazing streaks of light in the sky. Most meteors are so small that they burn up before hitting the ground but a few will make it to the surface, becoming what we call a meteorite - they will be too small to case any serious damage though.
The Lyrid meteor shower is the oldest recorded meteor shower that can still be seen today. People have been being wowed by the event since 687BC and if you want to get in on the action here’s where to find them.
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The Lyrid meteor shower has been wowing observers since 687BC (Getty Images)The meteor shower will appear to come from the constellation of Lyra, in the East, however this is just a trick of perspective. The meteors should be visible all across the sky, depending on time and conditions.
The Lyrid meteor shower will be active between 14-30 April and will peak on the night of 22-23 April. The best chance of seeing the show is generally in the early morning of the peak day, according to the Greenwich Royal Observatory.
“As with all meteor showers, the main thing for seeing the Lyrids is to find a dark site with an unobstructed view of the sky. The number of meteors you actually see will depend on all sorts of things, from the time of night to the level of background light. A bright sky will drown out the fainter meteors making them much more difficult to see,” they wrote on their website.
The maximum on April 22-23 is when there will be most meteors but it will also coincide with the full moon, making the fainter ones harder to see, so your best bet could be sooner rather than later.
There is also another meteor shower, the Eta Aquariids, that overlaps with the Lyrids. The Eta Aquariids begins on April 19, and continues until May 28, with its maximum happening on May 6.