The Lyrid meteor shower was first recorded almost 3,000 years ago by Chinese astronomers.
And they were named after the constellation of Lyra from where the meteors appear to originate and occurs every year from 16 to 25 April, but often peaking around 22 April.
Distinctive features of the Lyrids are their colours and brightness – along with exceptionally bright fireballs from time to time, outshining the planet Venus.
The colours are created by very small dust particles – no bigger than a grain of sand – interacting with the particles and ions in Earth’s atmosphere.
As the grains heat up and ionise, they produce the light we can see with the trail produced as the meteor cools and fades.
Fireballs are made when larger pieces of debris – more like the size of a grape or an acorn – pass though the atmosphere. As they are so much bigger when they heat up they create a flash and a line, often called a train, behind them.
While the Lyrid meteor shower is visible every year, Comet Thatcher takes 415 years to complete its orbit of the Sun and won’t be visible again until 2283.
