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Lyrid Meteor Shower
What are the Lyrids?
Every year, in the second half of April, our planet intercepts a region of its orbit populated by various space debris. This debris comes from the comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher).
The name Lyrids comes from the fact that the various meteors in the sky appear to radiate from the constellation Lyra.
The Lyrids in 2025
The Lyrids are visible during the second half of April with peak intensity on the night of the 21st to the 22nd.
The radiant in the constellation Lyra reaches its zenith near sunrise, so these events are best observed during the early morning hours. However, some events will always be observed during the night.
Reference: Meteor Showers 2024 – 2025 – American Meteor Society (amsmeteors.org) , updated 10/01/2024
The ZHR value corresponds to “Zenith Hourly Rate” which estimates the number of events that an observer can observe per hour in a dark, moonless sky with the radiant at the zenith.
What is comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher)?
The comet was discovered on April 4, 1861, by Albert E. Thatcher. Little is known about this comet, as it is a long-period comet, meaning it has an orbital period of more than 200 years, in this specific case, 416 years.
Since the last observation of the comet was made on September 7, 1861, and to date we have not had the opportunity to re-record the comet's position with new observations, all information about the orbit is out of date.
Assuming the comet stays in orbit and isn't disturbed, which is unlikely, we should see the comet again around 2277. All astrophysicists quickly learn that when you have to wait for things to happen in the sky, it's more fun to watch paint dry.
Given this reality, unlike, for example, comet 1P/Halley, which has the prefix “P/”, attributed to periodic comets, comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) has “C/” as its prefix, this is because, despite the orbital elements indicating an elliptical and periodic orbit, there has not yet been a new observation of perihelion passage to confirm periodicity, so until this is confirmed, the comet is classified as non-periodic through the prefix “C/”.
The affixes G1 and (Thatcher) are also relevant. "G" means it was discovered in the first half of April, and "1" means it was the first comet discovered during this period. Finally, the affix (Thatcher) is the name of the individual or telescope/instrument that discovered the comet—in this case, Albert E. Thatcher.
Orbital elements
Reference: NASA-JPL database ( JPL Solar System Dynamics (nasa.gov) ), updated 09/30/2024.
The calculation of the orbital elements was made based on observations from 1861, which are certainly out of date.
The debris
When comets approach the Sun, they heat up and begin to emit dust, gases and small debris that remain in the comet's orbit, creating a dense region of debris. The Earth's orbit intersects this region of debris emitted by comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). When this debris enters our planet's atmosphere, due to air resistance, it heats up and becomes incandescent, creating the illusion of a falling star, or what in astronomy is called a meteor.
Reference: Global Meteor Network . Lyrids data for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Published on April 8, 2024.
The ZHR of the Lyrids shows a gradual increase until peak intensity and a slower decrease in the following days.
How and when to observe the Lyrids at OLA in 2025?
The Lyrids, although the radiant only reaches its zenith close to sunrise, always provide a fascinating spectacle throughout the night during the most “decent” hours. On the night of the 21st to the 22nd, the Moon, despite being 40% illuminated, only rises close to 4 am, providing a start to the night free from light pollution.
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The nights of April 19th to 23rd will be good nights to observe the Lyrids.
You can consult our Astronomical Observation page for more information.