One notable astronomical event this week requires no special equipment – the April Lyrid Stream. To observe it, just binoculars or just the naked eye are enough.
These spring meteors get their name from the constellation Lyra, which is also home to the bright star Vega. The constellation was named after the Lyra of Orpheus from Greek mythology, a musical instrument played by the virtuoso at the gates of Hades in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Eurydice from the Underworld. Legends say that the Lyrid are the 'Tears of Orpheus', silently sliding across the April sky.
The April Lyrids are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers. Even Chinese historical records indicate that in the fourth month of 687 BC, “the stars fell like rain.”
In 1867, Johann Gottfried Halle called the Lyrid a modern meteor shower. The April Lyrid meteors originate from Comet C / 1861 G1 Thatcher, which orbits the Sun every 415 years and is predicted to return sometime around 2280 AD.
Lyrids are a modest stream for most years, but occasional flares are susceptible to sightings, especially in 1803, 1922 and 1982, when the speed exceeded 250 per hour.
Lyrids have a steep approach to Earth with a radiant declination located in the northern hemisphere +32 degrees north. Their oncoming average and high speed is 48 kilometers per second, according to the speed of meteor showers, about 25 percent of meteors in Lyrid are fireballs, to observe which it is worth keeping binoculars at hand.
2020 is the perfect year to observe Lyrid. The peak occurs on the morning of Wednesday, April 22, around midnight UTC (UT, on the night of April 21-22). The peak speed for Lyrid in 2020 is projected to be 20 meteors per hour. Watching a meteor shower is as easy as observing the sky with the naked eye. You just need to wait for the right moment.
