Overview
- The Lyrids, active each April, reach their global peak late Tuesday into early Wednesday with the best viewing in the pre‑dawn hours.
- NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center forecasts Tuesday night auroras across many northern U.S. states, with a chance of visibility reaching as far south as Nebraska.
- The moon will be in a waning quarter at about 27% illumination and will set early, which should leave a darker sky for faint meteors.
- Under clear, dark skies, observers can expect roughly 10 to 20 meteors per hour, with lower counts likely where the radiant sits low in the Southern Hemisphere.
- The shower comes from dust left by Comet Thatcher and has been recorded for about 2,700 years, including accounts from 687 B.C.