The Lyrid meteors come around again.
The expected peak of this sometimes rich shower is in the middle of April 22 (about 12h Universal Time), which favors the Pacific side of Earth, but Lyrids should be seen on the nights before and after,
The radiant – the small area from which the meteors seem to near and far parts of the sky, and from which they take their name – rises in the northeast and is highest by 4 AM.
After clouds and light pollution, the chief obscurer of fainter meteors is the Moon. It was at Last Quarter on April 19, and so does not rise till around 2 AM.
Observed from my backyard (4th magntiude limit) for about 1 hour after midnight and didn’t see any.
Here’s a nice picture of a lyra. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Sutton_Hoo_lyre_%28reconstruction%29.jpg
The lyre was strummed with one hand with a pick. The other hand’s fingers muted the strings that were NOT part of the chord.
So here might I add that Lyra is one of those constellations whose brightest stars are often connected and shown in books as a very lopsided constellation, but under much clearer and darker skies, one can see some other stars to the opposite side which form a much more symetrical constellation and a more sensible image of a lyre. Damn light pollution!
And didn’t Spock play one of those on the starship Enterprise?
As we so often concentrate our thoughts on celestial events and viewings above, with occaisional ramblings into other topics may I remind us that Saturday is also Earth Day so may I quote Mahatma Ghandi here saying: “Earth provides enough for every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
Brother Earth, Brother Earth bring me home oh Brother Earth. Mantric thought by myself.
I love the rail yard illustration.