Hot on the heels of that stunning total solar eclipse in the USA, the Lyrid meteor shower is about to give sky-gazers another great reason to once again look up toward the heavens.
One of the oldest-known meteor showers on record, the Lyrids has peaked like clockwork in late April for thousands of years. And while that peak won't be occurring until Saturday night, you still have a chance to see the flashing meteor streaks right now. The best part? While the total solar eclipse was only viewable in North America, the Lyrids should be visible pretty much around the world.
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through debris trails left by comets and other space objects. The debris - space rocks known as meteoroids - collides with Earth's atmosphere at high speed and disintegrates, creating fiery and colourful streaks in the sky, according to NASA. Those resulting fireballs, better known as "shooting stars," are meteors. Those meteoroids that survive their trip to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere are called meteorites.
The Lyrids are known as one of four major meteor showers each year that have a sharp peak. This year, that peak falls between April 21-22, according to EarthSky.org.
While NASA notes that the Lyrids can surprise watchers with as many as 100 meteors seen per hour, in general, 10-20 Lyrid meteors can be seen per hour during the peak.