The Lyrid meteor shower will be the first spring meteor shower this year. This was reported by the press service of the Moscow Planetarium.
The peak of the Lyrid meteor shower will occur on the evening and night of April 22-23, with up to 18 meteors per hour expected.
The Lyrids are a medium-strength meteor shower with a long history of observations (more than 2,500 years). It is formed by the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. Every year, the Earth passes through the plume of dust left by it. Dust particles burn up in the atmosphere of our planet, creating bright flashes that are visible in the night sky.
Lyrid meteors are white and quite fast. Their average speed is 50 km/s. They do not have noticeable tails, but are characterized by bright flashes.
The name of the stream comes from the constellation Lyra, in which the radiant is located (the area from which meteors fly out). The best conditions for observing the meteor shower will be in the second half of the night, especially in the morning, when the constellation rises high above the horizon.
Earlier www1.ru reported that strange glowing spirals appeared in the sky over Rostov, Kuban and Kaliningrad.
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