The Lyrid meteor showers return to Arizona skies

With many new watchers of the skies due to our “stay-at-home” orders, get ready for the second major meteor shower of 2020.

This week, the Earth will move into the orbital plane of Comet Thatcher, Comet C/1861 G1, the parent body of the Lyrid meteor shower.

Comet Thatcher passed very close to Earth on May 5, 1861, and has an orbital period of 415 years.

At that time, the comet came within 31,000.000 miles of us and later produced a very strong meteor shower.

This was not the first time that the Lyrid shower had been observed as the Chinese recorded this shower as far back as 687 B.C.

The comet is expected to return to perihelion in the year 2276, but in the meantime we get to see the next display of Lyrid activity later in the week.

With the weather helping to warm us here in Arizona, I suggest that you begin your Lyrid viewing party, with suggested distancing, as early as April 20.

The Lyrids have had some amazing outbursts in the past.

Back in 1803, Virginia residents observed what looked like small rockets shooting across the night sky. Many feared that a large fire was underway in the nearby fields.

On average and in years with little or no moon to interfere, you can expect to see at least 20 Lyrid meteors per hour.

I suggest that you begin your observations by looking to the NE sky, after midnight on the nights of April 20 and 21.

The meteors will seem to appear moving out of the area around the bright star Vega.

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra the Harp.

Here is a basic finder chart for the Lyrid meteor shower.

The best of your Lyrid watch will occur during the early morning hours of April 22 from 1 a.m. till dawn. By that time, the radiant of the Lyrids will be very high in the NE sky.

While you are waiting for Lyrid meteors, take a closer look at the bright star Vega.

Vega is an amazing star by itself as it lies some 25 light years from us.

That means that the light you see tonight, left the star in 1995. Do you remember what you were doing back then?

The night sky, is simply a magnificent time machine, with all objects at different distances and all in motion.

Vega is a rather young star, as far as stellar ages. It is only around 450 million years old compared to our own Sun, which is around 4.6 billion years old.

Did you know, that Vega was once in the location of being the North Star and will return with that title, around the year 13727?

Vega was the first star, other than our Sun, to be photographed back on July 16, 1850.

Vega rotates on its axis around 11 hours time at 2.1 times the mass of the Sun, making it appear to bulge at its equator.

One last Vega fact, is that astronomers have discovered a disk of material around this hot star, which may contain may asteroids or small planets.

The “star” of the movie “CONTACT” is the star Vega.

Hope you get to see many Lyrids in clear and dark skies.

Let me know your thoughts on what you did see!

To print your own monthly star chart, click here.

To view satellites/dates/times of passage, click here.

Listen to the Dr. Sky Show on KTAR News 92.3 FM every Saturday morning at 3 a.m.