April Meteor Showers Lyrids & eta Aquarids Viewing Guide

In the 2009 two-part miniseries Meteor (streaming now on Peacock), an asteroid breaks up and is surrounded by a swarm of meteor fragments which rain destructively down on the planet. In the real world, most meteor showers are more pleasant.

Shooting stars, falling stars, or meteors, whatever you call them, they’re the stuff of legend. It’s said that if you catch one in the night sky the universe might grant you a wish. On any given night, shooting stars are infrequent, but you can increase your odds by shotgunning wishes during a meteor shower. And lucky stargazers can catch two overlapping meteor showers this month.

What is a meteor shower?

While space is mostly empty, there are bits of metal, rock, and ice of all shapes and sizes drifting out there. If an object is large enough we call it an asteroid, and when it’s smaller we call it a meteoroid. If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere it becomes a meteor, and if it survives the trip to impact the surface, it’s a meteorite.

Meteoroids enter the atmosphere and become meteors all day every day. Scientists estimate that approximately tens of tons of meteoric material fall to Earth every day, most of which burns up in the atmosphere. With some persistence and a little luck, you can catch roughly one shooting star every 10 minutes on an ordinary night, but there are times when the frequency of meteors ramps up significantly and we call those meteor showers.

When the solar system was formed, it had some spin. That spin caused everything to flatten and spread like a ball of tossed pizza dough. As a result, all of the planets orbit along more or less the same plane, known as the ecliptic plane. Some of the smaller objects, like meteors, didn’t get the message.

Instead, comets often have wild orbits at odd angles to the ecliptic plane. If they dip into the inner solar system, their orbits can cut through Earth’s orbit at two points, once on the way in and once on the way out. Meanwhile, when they enter the inner solar system (where Earth is) interactions with the Sun cause the comet to shed bits and pieces of itself, leaving a trail of cosmic breadcrumbs in its wake. Even when a comet is far from Earth in deep space, its trail lingers in our path.

As the Earth travels along its orbital path, it runs into those dust trails at the same time every year and the meteors smash into the atmosphere like so many bugs against a planetary windshield.

What are the dates of the April meteor showers?

Because meteors from a particular source all hit at more or less the same angle, they appear to radiate from the same point in space. Scientists use the radiant point to name each shower, naming them after the constellation from which they appear to originate.

The Lyrids originate from the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher and can be found in the constellation Lyra. This year, they’ll be active from April 17 to April 26, peaking on the evening of April 21/22. The eta Aquarids are leftover cometary debris from the famed Halley’s Comet and can be found in the constellation Aquarius. They are active from April 19 to May 28, peaking on the evening of May 5/6.

How to watch April’s Lyrids and eta Aquarids meteor showers

The Lyrids are a medium-strength meteor shower with an average of up to 20 meteors per hour most years. However, some years they are extra active, with as many as 100 meteors per hour. While you can see them throughout the entire active period, the best visibility will be the three days surrounding the peak.

The eta Aquarids are one of the better meteor showers, with as many as 60 meteors per hour during peak. You’ll have a better view of the shower from the Southern Hemisphere, but it’s still visible if you’re north of the equator, with between 10 and 30 meteors per hour. This shower sticks around longer than the Lyrids, but the best visibility will be the week surrounding the peak.

There might be better individual meteor showers (we’re looking at you, Perseids and Geminids), but taken together, and with the warming spring weather, April is one of the best times for stargazing. You don’t need binoculars or a telescope (though they don’t hurt), just find a dark spot and look up.

In the meantime, catch Meteor, streaming now on Peacock.