INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Lyrid Meteor Shower: The meteor shower, seen here over the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, Germany (AFP)
The Lyrid meteor shower, one of the oldest known meteor
showers in the world, can be seen starting from tonight on April 21 until the early hours of April 22
Mankind has observed the Lyrid meteor showers for around 2,700 years now, with the first sighting made by the Chinese going back to 687 BC
The Lyrid meteors originate out of the C/1861 Thatcher comet, which was discovered on April 5, 1861 and was named after its discoverer, AE
The Lyrid meteors are known for being fast and bright, leaving behind glowing dust trains, which can be seen for many seconds as they shoot
past.The Lyrids are also known to shoot past at the rate of 100 meteors per hour, but usually, 10-20 Lyrid meteors can be seen per hour at
One of the earliest sightings of the Lyrids was in 1803 in the US, in 1922 from Greece, 1945 from Japan, in the US again in 1982
The Lyrid meteor shower was also seen on the night of April 21 in 2012.How To View ThemThe Lyrid meteors are best seen before dawn during
dawn on April 22Where They Appear To Come FromThe point where the meteors appear to come from is called the Radiant
The Lyrids appear to come from the constellation Lyra, or the harp
Vega, the brightest star in the night sky and a part of the Lyra constellation, is where the Lyrids appear to radiate from.It should be
noted that the constellation is only from where the meteors appear to emerge from and is not the actual origin point of the meteors
As an aid, the meteors are named after the constellation that they appear to emerge from
The Lyrids thus get their name from the constellation Lyra.Where Do Meteors Come FromComet particles and broken bits of asteroids are from
After coming from around the sun, comets leave behind a trail of debris behind them
The Earth passes through this debris every year and when the bits of debris clash with the earth's atmosphere, they disintegrate and create
colourful streaks in the sky.
