The Lyrid meteors shower peaks early Monday morning

The Lyrid meteors shower is expected to peak overnight, but the 2024 edition isn’t one I’ll be setting my alarm to for. The nearly full moon will hide the few meteors this shower tends to produce until about an hour before sunrise.

Meteors are produced as Earth moves through a narrow dust cloud left by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. Discovered in 1861, this comet wont return until 2283.

While some showers can produce a few meteors each night for weeks, the Lyrids are active only from mid to late April. Even under the best conditions, this a minimal meteor shower at best producing only a handful of meteors.

The year following its discovery, this meteor shower produced and outburst of activity with 90-100 meteors per hour. Since then, outbursts have been seen about every 60 years, putting the next one in the early 2040s.

The next meteor shower that could produce a good show is the Southern delta Aquariids which peaks the night of July 29. Moonlight should be less of a factor then with the waning crescent moon rising in the morning hours.

The next major shower is the Perseids which are active from mid July through August, peaking the evening of August 12.