Lyrids Meteor Shower Radiant
In the beginning of every year there is little meteor shower activity before April, except for the Quadrantids in January. In April, three meteor showers start and the Lyrids Meteor Shower peaks. The Pi-Puppids will not be as active as the Lyrids and the eta-Aquariids will not peak until May.
I hope you’re as excited as I am, because April means better weather for people in the northern hemisphere and more meteor shower viewing chances. The Lyrids meteor shower is the oldest acknowledged meteor shower, referenced during the Chou dynasty period in 687 B.C. by a Chinese observer, he writes, “at night, fixed stars are invisible, at midnight, stars dropped down like rain…” The shower gets its name from the radiant near the constellation Lyra, an ancient stringed instrument similar to a harp.
So what causes the meteor shower? In 1861, amateur astronomer and professor A.E. Thatcher discovered the comet and source of the Lyrids, Comet Thatcher. None of us reading this in 2010 will be around when the Thatcher Comet returns because it orbits our Sun once every 415 years and will be first visible with the naked eye from Earth in the year 2276. This doesn’t stop the dust particles and meteoroids that remain in the orbital path of this comet from producing this annual meteor shower every April.
Want to see some Lyrid Meteors? They start trickling into the sky on April 16th and will be most active in the morning hours of April 22nd and will end their run on April 25th. I will be posting some more meteor shower facts, in the meantime please join the mailing list, bookmark the site and keep your head up. Meteor Showers are coming!
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
At about midnight yesterday (April 1 2010) I saw a green and red fireball drop out of the overcast sky. It looked pretty large but I had no way of knowing how far away it was. It looked like it could have reached the earth before it completely burned out. I was looking west from Fridley Minnesota. I have not been able to find anything on the web about anyone else seeing this meteor.
on Apr 2nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm
I am so thrilled to find this site. below is a copy of my FB entry from the morning of March 10th 2010. I haven’t read all the material yet, but I am curious to what makes them so BRIGHT! lit up the clouds when it went through. comming down at a pretty steep angle. Thanks for posting this information.
Chuck Harper I saw a huge meteorite last night approx. 02:45. I was probably 5 miles away between Circleville and Amanda. I could see it come through the clouds. It was pure white, looked like the largest shooting star I’d ever seen.
last summer,there was the lenoid meteor shower that Japan got the best view of. I think this was a leftover of one of those. it came from the same general direction . It was sort of like the one they videotaped in South Africa last summer. But not as big.
March 10 at 8:01am ·
on Apr 2nd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
well, as small as I am in the scheme of things it seemed steep..LOL
on Apr 6th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
I just saw 4 to 5 red shooting stars/meteors across the southern sky, just left of Orion here in West Georgia at 10:15 PM or so. It’s April 6. Where did these things come from if there isn’t a major shower until mid to late april?
on Apr 6th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Robert,
Thanks for the comment. There are countless numbers of meteoroids and space junk that can hit Earth any time at any second. You can search on this site for “sporadic meteor” for more information. I’m glad you noticed there is no major meteor shower right now. As a note to others, not all meteors are associated with a meteor shower. On any given night/morning one can see meteors regardless of whether or not there is a shower. Usually there are one to five visible meteors per hour, you’ll just never know where they will be in the sky.
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 7th, 2010 at 12:44 am
We saw a large bruning object streaking across our Texas sky around 11pm. It was quite bright. Wondered if anyone else reported seeing a meteor or possible space junk? Thanks for your cool site.
Vickie,
You’re welcome, thanks for the comment. You may want to comment on where in Texas you saw it. Texas is pretty big from what I heaR!~
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 7th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Sorry. We’re in Canton, located Southeast of Dallas. Rural area, so no city lights. This was a treat, since it seemed so much larger and brighter than what we’ve previously seen. It went from north to south and appeared more directly above. We actually weren’t watching as we have for predicted showers in the past. This caught us off guard as we walked across the yard, it lit up the sky. So we thought we’d look online to see if anything had been expected?
on Apr 7th, 2010 at 1:23 am
Vickie,
Thanks for the details. Read the above comments, not all meteors are expected or associated with a meteor shower. Most meteors go unreported but millions of particles hit our atmosphere on a daily basis. Meteors still remain one of the hardest and nearly impossible celestial events to predict.
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 8th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
While driving the backroads of New England on 4/01/2010 (think it was highway 120 heading east by northeast coming into Maine) I saw the biggest and brightest meteor (?) I have ever seen. It streaked from the top of the windshield to the horizon and had a very long tail (did not notice any colors, just that it was very bright). The time on the clock of the car showed 9:44PM. I have seen many meteor showers and various “shooting stars”, but this by far was the biggest in size and also the brightest. It was witnessed by two other people in the car and they stated the samething. It was definitly a “WOW” moment.
on Apr 8th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Dana,
I’m sure it was! Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 12:19 am
At 11:58 April 12 ,2010 central us time I seen the most amazing shooting star even . Coming from the north to the south this lasted more than 10sec. estimated . Beautiful and bright blue streak ..
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
I just drove home from working out this evening (Wednesday, April 14th @ 10:10PM Pella, Iowa) and was waiting at a 4 way stop in town, when I saw a very bright light. I was facing north and the light was moving across the sky west to east. I figured I was seeing a meteor and though how lucky I was to see such an impressive bright meteor (and thought I had better “make a wish” for a better work-out next time!) Much to my surprise, I was able to wish for quite awhile as the meteor kept getting brighter and closer to the horizon…to the point I could see a blueish-green light around the front of the meteor! WOW! As it moved down into the tree line, the sky really did light up like a green/blue color…I felt like I should have heard a large explosion or something. Never have seen anything like it…I am anxious to hear any news about it here in Iowa!
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Just saw green streaking meteor looking West in Milwaukee at 10:04pm. Going from North to South at a very minimal angle and very bright! Brightest I have ever seen. Was in sky for a good 10 seconds and finally broke up into 8-10 visible pieces before burning out. Is this just a random meteor or part of a coming shower?
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Just got back from a run and saw a huge green light in the sky, it was so close it looked like it was flying just over the tops of the houses but was probably higher than that. Then it looked like it blew up like a fire cracker and the light burned out. That was the most amazing thing. I got home jumped in the car and drove in the direction it was headed but didn’t see anything. My wife said on the news were suppose to be having a meteor shower.
Really cool night!
4/12/10 10:41 us central time.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
At approximately, 10:15 pm, April 14, Central time near Ames, IA, our attention was drawn skyward when the sky lightened up and glowed for a few brief seconds- it was different than lightening. And then, there was a bright orange ball traveling west to east over the Iowa farmland. It was TOTALLY AWESOME. I was sheltered by the house so I only saw the ball for a few seconds but like I said, it was the totally bright sky that alerted me to look up and discern what was there!!! Amazing!!!
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Tom,
It is possible that it was from the Lyrids which is starting soon. Not all meteors are associated with meteor showers.
Ryan,
The blog post has information about a meteor shower that peaks April 22 in the morning.
To all of you thanks for your comments and keep your heads up!
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Hey All…saw the same at about 10:00 Central while out for a walk.
In south central Wisconsin. Lasted for about 5 sec.
30 degrees above west horizon, traveling horizontal from north to south. Started as a white spot and grew larger until it grew a white tail with red, blue and green bits and went out with a puff. I thought I heard a hiss and crackling sounds with it…I was dumbstruck for a while and kept looking up and around for more to follow….no luck…look up and look out you all.
42
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Is there any way to find out the path of this thing on a map?
It seemed really close. No instant replay…too bad.
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 12:05 am
I saw a bright, orange-ish light falling in the southern sky just after 10pm this evening! It was amazing. I am so happy to find out it was a meteor and that others saw it too! (I don’t live far from a small airport). Minneapolis.
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 12:25 am
Zaphod,
Meteors can be hard to plot. Even the brightest most dazzling meteors or fireballs can be no larger than a basketball traveling at 100,000 miles per hour!
Thanks for the comment, keep your head up and stay tuned for the Lyrids Meteor Shower to see more!
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Back again…after reading news and posts…seems general north to south direction…possibly following line above Wis / Minn border.
Someone reported frags in Potosi Wi…rumor…scary business….ooooh!
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Was standing outside and saw a green light in the sky, looked up and saw a meteor looking particle falling in the sky that was reportedly seen from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I am in Iowa and saw this very clearly. Looked very close. Very exciting and was moving quite quickly as a green bolt and then exploded into multiple “fireballs”
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 1:49 am
my daughter and i we were coming from church driving my car and saw it too it was bright like orange ball blue and greenish and had a white tail about 9:30 or 10:00 we were speechless ! awesome!!!
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Sorry i was so exited last night that i forgot to write down my city Kidder Missouri… April 14 2010 Between 9:30 -10:00 pm central time my daughter and i we were coming from church driving my car and saw it too it was bright like orange ball blue and greenish and had a white tail about 9:30 or 10:00 we were speechless ! awesome!!!
on Apr 16th, 2010 at 2:14 am
While sitting in my car, I turned my head to look at the quickly brightening northern sky, when I saw a moving white spot that looked like a growing-in-size falling star which made a LONG arc from west to east with a magnificent tail that trailed the entire width of the northern sky, like a sideways firework! Blue, green, red, and white were the dominant colors, and I saw it disappear NOT behind trees and foreshortened as you see in the Elmar, IA video, but after making a perfect arc in the cloudless MID-SKY! So beautiful, but not as scary until about 5 minutes later when I felt more than heard a sonic boom! It was as if a giant fist gave the rear window one powerful pound, and I looked into the mirrors to see if someone was there. The van had rocked with the sound of the bang. Does anyone know the size of this meteor? I live 20 mi NW of Dubuque, IA, and when I used my forefinger and thumb to estimate its diameter from where I was, I came up with about a half inch. People who live in Guttenberg were much closer as it appeared an inch or bigger to them. Amazing, and yet it makes you thankful you’re alive to tell the tale! Does a sonic boom occur with all meteors whether or not they hit the ground??
on Apr 16th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Sorry, forgot to tell you, like the others, the date and time we saw the meteor was April 14 at about 10:02 pm.
on Apr 16th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Terri,
I wrote another post which is on the home page now. The meteor was probably about three to five feet wide. Meteoroids enter the atmosphere between 40,000 to 140,000 miles per hour, so there is definitely a sound created but not every meteor’s sound is heard by human ears. Larger fireballs like this one do create a sonic boom considering the fact that the speed of sound is roughly 770+ miles per hour. A sonic boom is not related to a meteor hitting Earth it has do with the air pressure created by the speed of the meteor and other things. For comparison, thunder is a sonic boom too.
Thanks for your comment, keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Did anyone report seeing a similar fireball on April 10?? My daughter saw almost this very same thing in Tulsa, Oklahoma between 7 pm and 8 pm. It was still light outside. She called me very excited and said she had just seen the biggest shooting star ever and that it looked like a comet. She described it as perfectly round ball of green fire that appeared in the sky and shot through the earth’s atmosphere.
on Apr 16th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Lisa,
Sounds awesome. I didn’t get any reports on the site about this event!
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 19th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
For one who is presently located in Kuwait, at what time would be the best for viewing the Lyrids? On many stargazers’ pages, I have read that 0200 hours is the peak, but I am certain that applies mostly to North America. I have also read on one particular site that an individual in the Middle East should add three hours to the time, effectively making 0500 hours the best viewing time in my region. As a “newbie” in the stargazing, I appreciate any help one might be able to offer. At this time, I have three other colleagues who are willing to interrupt their sleep schedules to observe this spectacular phenomena with me. As the organizer of our little amateur watch party, I do not want to appear foolish. The sooner I can change our plans, if need be, the better I will appear. Thank you!
Also, to Lisa: I am from Mustang, Oklahoma and my twin brother lives in Tulsa! How is life in the great Sooner State these days? I am sad to be missing tornado season, but this year seems pretty quiet anyways.
on Apr 19th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Jake,
Thanks for the question. For a newbie, you seem to be more advanced than you think. Give yourself a little more credit!
Did you check out the Meteor Shower Viewing Page on my site? It’s located up in the top right corner. There are links for When to Look and also Meteor FAQ. As well as some other helpful information. The Lyrids will be a visible meteor shower, but don’t expect a lot of meteors with this one. Occasionally there are outbursts and one never knows how many they will see. So in general you have to pick a time and watch for a few hours. I would suggest reviewing the pages I mentioned. Meteor showers are usually best seen as close to dawn when it is darkest. There are cases when peak activity can be predicted, but for this one I think your best bet is to take a gamble on a time and look.
Check back with me May 1st…I will be posting information about a shower that may be massive! Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Apr 26th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Did anyone see the green object falling over Dallas?
I was driving home on 80 heading south east.
It looked like it was write over north west Dallas.
It fell for a good full second.