Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight

Spring is when many of us look forward to more daylight, sunshine and warmer weather, but it is also a great time in the calendar to look up in the night sky.

This year we've had aurora displays, a partial solar eclipse, and for another couple of days - clear skies permitting - those of us in the northern hemisphere can enjoy the Lyrid meteor shower. They are one of the oldest known meteor showers, with observations dating back 2,700 years.

Why not wrap up and look up tonight?

This celestial event happens every year between mid to late April, visible as short-lived streaks of light in the sky. This year they are active from 16 to 25 April, and will peak tonight.

As this coincides with the Moon's last quarter, viewing conditions should be pretty good. The best time to observe them will be when the skies are at their darkest and clearest.

Meteor showers happen when dust from a passing comet or asteroid passes through the Earth's atmosphere. The tiny particles - roughly the size of a grain of sand - vaporise creating visible streaks of light. As the Earth passes through the most dense section of the dust stream more meteors are visible and, for the Lyrids, around 18 meteors an hour are likely. However, some years, this can intensify and there can be 100 meteors every hour.

Could this year be one of those?

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