Lyrid Meteor Shower: April's Annual Shooting Stars From Comet Thatcher

Summary: The Lyrid meteor shower is responsible for April's annual shooting stars from Comet Thatcher and is the oldest recorded meteor shower.

Lyrid meteor shower (perpendicular to central Florida coast) and lightning flashes over eastern Gulf Coast, Florida and Cuba, as viewed from the International Space Station: image by astronaut Donald Pettit, CC BY 2.0, via NASA

Known as April Lyrids or simply as the Lyrids, the Lyrid Meteor Shower is the oldest recorded meteor shower.

The Lyrids have been happening for over 2,700 years, which amounts to more than two and one-half millennia. A description from 687 BCE appearing in Zuo Zhuan (Chinese: 左傳; Wade–Giles: Tso chuan, "Commentary of Zuo"), an ancient Chinese narrative history covering 722 to 468 BCE, serves as the first recorded sighting of the Lyrids.

A meteor shower is linked to debris from a comet, a small solar system body (SSB) with a nucleus, or solid center, composed of dust, frozen gases (ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, etc.), rocks and water ice. Comet C/1861 G1, known as Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet with a 415-year orbit around the sun, produces the debris that lights up in Earth's atmosphere as Lyrid shooting stars.

American amateur astronomer Albert E. Thatcher is credited with the discovery of Comet C/1861 G1 in New York City on Thursday, April 4, 1861. The comet's discovery date occurred the week before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, April 12th, initiated the War Between the States (April 12, 1861-May 9, 1865).

Comet Thatcher's next return for visibility by Earthlings is expected in 2276. The comet's next return date of 2276 marks the quincentennial of the United States of America (USA). The New World country was founded Thursday, July 4, 1776, via the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress (May 10, 1775-March 1, 1781) in the Province of Pennsylvania's powerful port city of Philadelphia.

Meteor showers derive their names from the constellation appearing nearest to the radiant, or apparent radiant, which is the point, as viewed by Earthlings, from which the meteors seem to originate. The radiant for the Lyrids is in seeming proximity to Alpha Lyrae (α Lyr, α Lyrae), known as Vega, the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra the Harp.

Lyra offers low visibility from its low-in-the-sky position in autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Lyra offers easy visibility from its high-in-the-sky position beginning in spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower occurs annually in late April, from around April 16 to 26. Peak showers usually take place around April 22. The prominent nightly display by the April Lyrids represents an output averaging around 5 to 10 meteors per hour and usually peaking at a maximum hourly rate of 15 to over 20.

Unexpectedly, the Lyrids may exhibit dramatic, sustained outbursts of over 100 meteors per hour, with the last such instance occurring in 1982. Thus far, outburst occurrences are unpredictable with activation due to unknown causes.

In April in the Northern Hemisphere, Lyra rises in the northern to northeastern sky around 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time).

Vega sits as a handle in the tiny triangle atop the small parallelogram that defines Lyra as the harp of ancient Greece's tormented, mythical musician, Orpheus. The Lyrids are visible near Vega throughout the night.

Every April I look forward to the Lyrid Meteor Shower, which enchants with its familiarity and predictability.

The April Lyrids' dazzling display in spring's night sky complements the splendid floral landscape of spring in my yard, down here on Earth.

night sky for Lyrid meteor shower as viewable over New York, April 21-22, 2006, with screenshot via Stellarium: Eric Skiff (ericskiff), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

night sky for a Lyrid shower as viewed over New York, April 21 - 22, 2006, with screenshot via Stellarium: Eric Skiff (ericskiff), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericskiff/132402655/

Lyrid meteor (perpendicular to central Florida) and lightning flashes over Cuba, Florida, and the eastern Gulf Coast as viewed from International Space Station, April 22, 2012, at 5:34:22 UT: Don Pettit, CC BY 2.0, via NASA @ http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/lyrids1.html

For further information:

“2. The Comet Discovered by Mr. Thatcher.” The American Journal of Science and Arts, second series, vol. XXXII (November 1861): 134. New Haven CT: E. Hayes, 1861.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37026463
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000007831789?urlappend=%3Bseq=150

Friedlander, Blaine. "Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend: its brush with history." The Washington Post > Blog > Capital Weather Gang. April 19, 2013.
Available @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/04/19/lyrid-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-its-brush-with-history/

Hill, Tanya, and Michael J.I. Brown. "The Lyrids meteor shower should put on a show overnight." The Conversation. April 21, 2014.
Available @ http://theconversation.com/the-lyrids-meteor-shower-should-put-on-a-show-overnight-25746

Howell, Elizabeth. "Lyrids: Leftovers of Comet Thatcher." Space.com. October 23, 2013.
Available @ http://www.space.com/23315-lyrid-meteor-shower.html

Kronk, Gary W. “Lyrids.” Meteor Showers Online > Lyrids.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/lyrids.html

“Vega.” Constellation Guide > Stars. June 15, 2014.
Available @ http://www.constellation-guide.com/vega/