Texas is home to some of the darkest skies in America, which makes it an ideal place to watch meteors soar across the horizon. There's a shower coming up next month, and it promises up to 100 meteors per hour! Drive out to a remote location without light pollution and enjoy the show.
Each year, up to 100 meteors per hour light up the darkness between April 16 and 26. This celestial event is known as the Lyrids, a meteor shower that happens to be the earliest recorded in modern time (it dates to 687 BC!).
A constellation known as Lyra is where the meteors appear to originate. It's a relatively small group of stars, but its energy is a force to be reckoned with during this ten-day period.
Lyra's brightest star is called Alpha Lyrae, or Vega for short. The fifth-brightest star in the entire night sky, it's a great point of reference for when you go out to watch the shower.
C/1861 G1, or Thatcher, is the comet responsible for the Lyrids. It sheds debris in the form of dust particles, which zoom across the horizon at astonishing speeds.
Expect the shower to peak overnight on April 22, which is a Wednesday this year. If we're really lucky, a 'meteor outburst' might occur and produce up to 700 meteors per hour! That would be pretty epic, as the typical count is much lower.
Visibility depends largely on what phase the moon is in. It won't be full -- unlike the past couple of showers -- so your probability of witnessing a truly awesome spectacle essentially skyrockets.
For maximum viewing pleasure, head out to a remote location with the least amount of light pollution possible. We have many such places here in Texas, so you shouldn't have to drive terribly far. Enjoy the show!
Have you ever witnessed the Lyrids? If so, how incredible was the shower? Let us know your thoughts.
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