From April 16 to 25, both in the southern hemisphere and in the northern hemisphere you will be able to observe thestarfall of the lyrid. The meteors in this shower, whose numbers are unpredictable but are usually bright, come fromthe tiny particles of ice and rocks that comet C / 1861 G1 leaves in space on its journey around the sunor “Thatcher”, discovered in the year 186. Said comet takes approximately 415 years to revolve around the Sun, so it is considered a long period. The last and closest approach of the comet with respect to Earth occurred on May 5, 1861. Meteors are the size of a grain of sand, a lentil or a chickpea at best, although it may be the case. of larger particles, which would reach a more intense brightness than the planet Venus, the celestial object that shines the most in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Thenumber of meteors per hour reaches an average of 18, although sometimes they reach 200, as happened in 1982, according to the Astronomical Association of Spain.
Lyrid meteors enter our atmosphere at about 49 km / s, which is the same, at175,000 km/h. They become visible in the first contact with the atmosphere at 100 km altitude, and usually disappear when they reach 50 km in height. In 2013, the rain of the Lyrids will reach itsmaximum activity the night of April 22 to 23.
There are more than 150 meteor showers a year. The names of these showers often come from the constellation from which the meteors depart: the Aquarids, which are born in the constellation of Aquarius; the Cígnidas, whose origin is the constellation of the Swan; and the Lyrid, from the constellation of the Lyre.
