The Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, offering skywatchers a chance to see 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour streaking across the spring sky. The display will be visible across the globe, but views will be best in the Northern Hemisphere. A dim crescent moon that sets before the peak begins will create ideal viewing conditions without light interference.

The Lyrids are among astronomy’s most enduring phenomena, with reported sightings dating back more than 2,500 years, making them one of the oldest recorded meteor showers.

What makes a meteor shower

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through debris trails left behind by space rocks. As these particles enter the atmosphere, they heat up and produce the fiery streaks known as shooting stars.

The Lyrids are debris remnants from Comet Thatcher. We only see the actual comet once every 415 years, but we pass through the debris it has shed every year around the same time.

“We only get to see the actual comet once every 415 years. But we pass through the grains that have been left in its wake every year around the same time,” said Maria Valdes, who studies meteorites and works at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

A shower with millennia of history

The Lyrids are among the oldest recorded meteor showers, with reported sightings dating back over 2,500 years. This ancient lineage makes them a fixture of Earth’s night sky and human observation of the cosmos.

How to watch

To see the Lyrids, go outside after midnight and venture away from tall buildings and city lights. It will take at least 15 to 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the nighttime sky. Observers should bring lawn chairs or a sleeping bag and be patient until the meteors reveal themselves.

“A meteor looks like a trail of light in the sky. What you tend to detect is the motion against the background,” said astronomer Lisa Will with San Diego City College.

Where to look

The meteors will appear to come from the constellation Lyra in the northeastern sky.

The next shower

The next major meteor shower arrives in early May: the Eta Aquarids, which are debris from Halley’s Comet.