The annual Lyrids meteor shower, which occurs each year between April 16 to April 26, will be at its height this evening, Tuesday night in the United States and Wednesday night in Australia and Asia.
The Lyrids Meteor Shower isn’t the biggest annual meteor shower, but this year coincides with a new moon, meaning they’ll be brighter than in recent years. Lyrids meteors are usually seen falling to earth at the rate of 10-20 an hour.
The Lyrids meteor shower comes with some history, being the first meteor shower ever recorded. The shower on May 22, 687 BC (proleptic Julian calendar) was recorded in Zuo Zhuan in China, who described the shower as “On day x?n-m?o of month 4 in the summer (of year 7 of King Zhuang of Lu), at night, fixed stars are invisible, at midnight, stars dropped down like rain.”
The best time to view the meteors is in hours leading up to sunrise, although some meteors may be seen following sunset.
