“Lyrid Meteor Shower to Peak This Weekend: How to Watch the Celestial Event”

SPACE — The Lyrid meteor shower will peak this weekend. A mostly moonless night sky would be a good time to see fireballs, bright meteors that are visible for a few seconds.

The Lyrids will be 2023’s second meteor shower after the Quadrantids this past January. According to EarthSky, Lyrid will reach its highest peak on Sunday, April 23 2023 at around 8.04 WIB. At that peak, Lyra, the constellation from which Lyrids originate, will be highest in the night sky over Europe and Africa because at that time they are still 1.04 in the morning.

Unfortunately, Indonesia is still in the afternoon when the peak of this meteor shower occurs. However, there’s no need to worry, because the peak of this meteor shower will still occur until Tuesday, April 25, 2023. So, wherever you are, meteors can be seen after sunset. It’s just that it won’t be as powerful and as numerous as the fireball at its highest peak on April 23, 2023.

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At the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, around 18 ‘shooting stars’ occur every hour. Each with a speed of about 47 kilometers per second. According to the American Meteor Society, at that time, Lyrids were the size of a fireball. “The fireball was caused by a meteoroid the size of a large marble,” said the Natural History Museum.

According to NASA, Lyrids have been observed for at least 2,700 years. Its first recorded sighting was in 687 BC in China. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through a stream of dust and space debris (meteoroids) left behind in the inner solar system.

In order to get a good view of this meteor shower, get to a place away from city lights and find a dark area with the best chance of seeing a ‘shooting star’. You don’t need binoculars or a telescope to see this thing.

While waiting, avoid looking at direct light, including smartphone screens. This is to keep your vision adjusted to the dark night. Finally, be patient waiting. Source: LiveScience