SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Spring’s first meteor shower of the year is expected to peak this week, so get your binoculars ready and expect quite the show!
The Lyrid meteor shower will happen overnight on Tuesday, April 21 and into the early hours of Wednesday, according to Space.com.
The Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada predicts this year’s maximum peak will occur at 11 p.m. PST, which is considered to be the best timing for observers across much of North America.
Late evening and early morning hours based on your location, between midnight and 4 a.m to 5 a.m. local time, may be the best time to see shooting stars, or meteors that burn up in our atmosphere, according to the American Meteor Society.
Space.com estimates that typicallly, the Lyrid meteor shower can showcase between 10 and 20 meteors per hour during the peak, but it’s difficult to estimate how many will be visible.
During the peak of the shower, about ten meteors will be visible per hour.
The shower occurs this time each year when Earth’s orbit crosses paths with Comet Thatcher.
For even more fun, keep an eye out for a grouping of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in the sky. This won’t happen again for a couple of years, according to NASA.
Latest Stories:
- Fight against COVID-19: What Biden will change
- CA health officials give all clear to resume Moderna vaccine distribution
- SF goal: Vaccinate all residents by summer
- San Jose’s undocumented community urges Biden-Harris administration for all-inclusive immigration reform
- Keystone XL pipeline halted as Biden decides to cancel permit
