After months without a meteor shower, sky-gazers now have a reason to keep their chins up — the Lyrids are here to kick off the season.
The Lyrids have graced the sky since April 17 and will hang around until Saturday, with the densest concentration of meteors flying by Monday night into Tuesday, according to the American Meteor Society. In a perfectly dark sky, onlookers can typically spot up to 18 meteors per hour during the Lyrid shower’s peak. This year, however, light from the waning crescent moon will make it somewhat harder to see the celestial show.
Still, local weather conditions allowing, careful observers in the Northern Hemisphere can expect around five streaking lights per hour appearing between 10 p.m. local time Monday and 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Dr. Bill Cooke, lead for NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
“Most meteors you see (during a Lyrid shower) are not brilliant fireballs — they are faint little streaks — and the more moonlight there is, it tends to wash out those faint little streaks,” Cooke said. “Meteor observing is one of those things where you’re going to take your time.”
For the optimal viewing experience, Cooke recommends lying down somewhere outside with minimal light pollution and giving your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
“The other important thing is: Don’t look at your cell phone, because that bright screen destroys your night vision,” Cooke said. “And it takes your eyes off the sky.”
More about the Lyrids
Regular meteor showers occur throughout the year as the Earth passes through a field of debris left by comets and asteroids, said Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
The Lyrids originate from the parent comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), which is about halfway through its roughly 415-year orbit around the sun. While Comet Thatcher was discovered in 1861, the Lyrids have been observed for 2,700 years, making them one of the oldest known meteor showers, according to NASA.
The best time to view the Lyrids is when Lyra, the Northern Hemisphere constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate, is above the horizon, according to EarthSky.
What happens during a meteor shower?
As the comet travels, it leaves a trail of ice and dust moving thousands of miles per hour in its wake, astronomer Dean Regas said.
“The meteors hit the (Earth’s) atmosphere and slow down, and that transmits heat. That’s the flash you see,” Regas said. “Most of the material from meter showers, the comet pieces, will burn up before they hit the ground, and a lot of them are about the size of a grain of sand. So it’s really impressive to see something so small light up like that.”
While the Lyrids tend to be relatively predictable each year, occasionally they exceed expectations.
Outbursts of 100 meteors per hour occur unpredictably, averaging about every 60 years. The next outburst is expected around 2042, according to the American Meteor Society. It is not entirely known what causes these outbursts, but other planets and objects are thought to affect the density of the debris as they cross paths, Schmoll said.
Other meteor showers to come
If you miss the peak of the Lyrid shower, there’s still a chance to catch some shooting stars this year.
Here are peak dates for upcoming meteor showers in 2025, according to the American Meteor Society and EarthSky.
● Eta Aquariids: May 5–6
● Southern Delta Aquariids: July 29–30
● Alpha Capricornids: July 29–30
● Perseids: August 12–13
● Draconids: October 8–9
● Orionids: October 22–23
● Southern Taurids: November 3–4
● Northern Taurids: November 8–9
● Leonids: November 16–17
● Geminids: December 12–13
● Ursids: December 21–22
Full moons to watch for
Following the recent pink moon event, there are eight more full moons to look out for this year, with supermoons occurring in October, November and December.
Here’s the list of full moons remaining in 2025, according to the Farmers’ Almanac:
● May 12: Flower moon
● June 11: Strawberry moon
● July 10: Buck moon
● August 9: Sturgeon moon
● September 7: Corn moon
● October 6: Harvest moon
● November 5: Beaver moon
● December 4: Cold moon
Lunar and solar eclipses in 2025
In the lead-up to the fall season, two eclipse events will grace the sky.
A total lunar eclipse will be most visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, parts of eastern South America, Alaska and Antarctica on September 7 and 8. A lunar eclipse, which causes the moon to look dark or dimmed, occurs when Earth is between the sun and moon and the three celestial objects line up in a row so that the moon passes into our planet’s shadow.
When the moon is within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, it takes on a reddish hue, which has led to the nickname “blood moon” for a lunar eclipse, according to NASA. That shadow isn’t perfect, so sunbeams sneak around the shadow’s edges, bathing the moon in warm hues.
A partial solar eclipse will occur on September 21 as the moon moves between the sun and Earth but the celestial bodies aren’t perfectly aligned, according to NASA. In this type of event, the moon only blocks part of the sun’s face, creating a crescent shape in which it appears the moon is taking a “bite” out of the sun. This event will be visible to parts of Australia, Antarctica and the Pacific Ocean.
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