Lyrids Meteor Shower Radiant. Credit: Stellarium

The Lyrids meteor shower is a medium strength shower that typically produces good rates for three nights centered on the maximum. These meteors usually lack persistent trails, but have been known to produce fireballs. This shower is best seen from the northern hemisphere, where the radiant is high in the dawn sky. This shower can be seen from the southern hemisphere, but at a lower rate.

40.4% Waxing Crescent Moon. Credit: Stellarium

Peak: April 21-22nd
Active from: April 16th to April 25th
Radiant: 18:04 +34° (see image above)
Hourly Rate: 18
Velocity: 30 miles/sec (medium – 48.4km/sec)
Parent Object: C/1861 G1 (Thatcher)
Source: American Meteor Society

The Moon will be a waxing crescent, nearing first quarter. The Moon will set around 2:00 AM, so it should not hinder meteor observing from 3:00-5:00 AM.

Here are a couple images of the orbit of the meteor shower’s parent body: comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). Note how the comet’s aphelion is way out past Neptune at 55.68 AU, and the perihelion is very near Earth’s orbit at 0.92 AU. It takes this comet 415 years to complete one orbit the Sun.

Here is an interactive visualization of the meteoroid stream from comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher).

Meteor. Credit: Creative Commons, CC BY 3.0