INDIANA – The annual Lyrid meteor showers will be visible again in Indiana.
The meteor shower is visible through April 29 but will peak on Saturday night. This is an annual shooting star event that marks the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower.
All you need to do is look at the northeast skyline. Viewers can expect to see from 10 to 20 meteors an hour.
Fortunately, the Moon will bow out as the meteor shower peaks on Saturday, the three-day-old crescent moon sets around 11 p.m. local time, leaving dark skies ideal for soaking up comet-dust ionization trails.
Earth crosses the orbit of Comet Thatcher every April. Comet particles slam into the atmosphere, heat up, and create brief streaks of light (ionization trails) better known as meteors.
Every April from about the 15th through the 29th, Earth crosses the comet’s path. Dust and small pebbles strike the atmosphere traveling at 47 kilometers per second or 105,000 mph and scratch out luminous streaks of light. During a typical Lyrid display meteors flash at the rate of 15–20 per hour as seen from dark skies.
