Key Takeaways
- The Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the night of 22–23 April with up to 18 meteors per hour — and occasional bright fireballs
- 2026 is an excellent year: the crescent Moon sets by 1:30am, leaving hours of dark sky before dawn
- The Lyrids are the oldest recorded meteor shower — Chinese astronomers first documented them in 687 BCE
- No equipment needed: find a dark spot, lie back, and look northeast after midnight for the best rates
📑 Table of Contents
What Are the Lyrids?
The Lyrid meteor shower is the oldest meteor shower on record. Chinese astronomers first documented it in 687 BCE — more than 2,700 years ago — noting "stars fell like rain" during what we now know was an exceptional Lyrid outburst. Every April since, Earth has ploughed through the same ribbon of debris, and every April, the sky puts on a show.
The debris comes from Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), a long-period comet that orbits the Sun roughly every 415 years. It was last seen in 1861, and it won't return until around 2283. But the trail of dust and gravel it leaves behind is still here, strewn along a path that Earth crosses every spring.
When those tiny fragments — most no bigger than a grain of sand — hit our atmosphere at 49 kilometres per second (110,000 mph), they burn up in a flash of light. That flash is a meteor. And from mid-April to late April, those meteors appear to radiate from a point near the brilliant star Vega in the constellation Lyra — hence "Lyrids."
Why 2026 Is a Good Year
Not every year is equal for meteor watching. The biggest factor, after weather, is the Moon. A bright Moon washes out fainter meteors and can cut your visible count in half or worse.
This year, conditions are about as good as they get. The New Moon fell on 17 April, and by peak night (22–23 April) the Moon will be a 27% waxing crescent that sets below the western horizon at roughly 1:30am BST. Everything after that — the prime meteor-watching hours from 2am to dawn — will be under beautifully dark, moonless skies.
That makes 2026 one of the best years for Lyrids in recent memory. The last time the peak aligned this well with a slim Moon was 2024, and it won't be this favourable again until 2029.
When Exactly to Watch
The Lyrids are active from 16 April to 25 April, with activity building gradually toward the peak.
The predicted peak falls at 20:15 BST on Wednesday 22 April (19:15 UTC). That's early evening — before the radiant is even high enough for good rates. In practice, this means the best viewing for UK observers will be the early morning hours of Thursday 23 April, from about 2am to 4:30am BST, when the Moon has set, the radiant is high in the sky, and dawn hasn't yet begun to brighten the east.
That said, the Lyrids can produce good activity for several nights either side of the peak. If Wednesday night doesn't work for you, Tuesday 21–22 April and Thursday 23–24 April are both solid alternatives.
Here's a quick guide to the best windows:
Good (warm-up): Nights of 19–20 and 20–21 April — rates building, 5–8 meteors/hour possible.
Best: Night of 22–23 April — peak rates, 10–18 meteors/hour, dark skies after 1:30am.
Still good (tail end): Night of 23–24 April — rates slowly declining but still worth a look.
Where to Look
The radiant point — the patch of sky meteors appear to stream from — sits near Vega, the fifth-brightest star in the entire sky. Vega is hard to miss: it's a piercing blue-white point that rises in the northeast around 9–10pm in mid-April, climbs through the east overnight, and is almost directly overhead by dawn.
But here's the key tip: don't stare directly at the radiant. Meteors that appear right at the radiant have very short trails because they're coming straight toward you. Instead, look about 40–50 degrees away — roughly four clenched fists held at arm's length. The southeast or due east are ideal directions. Meteors will appear longer and more spectacular there.
The best technique is the simplest one. Lie on your back (a reclining garden chair or a sleeping bag on a groundsheet works brilliantly), let your eyes relax, and take in as much sky as possible. Give your eyes at least 15–20 minutes to fully adapt to the dark. Avoid checking your phone — even a brief glance at the screen resets your night vision.
What You Might See
Under clear, dark skies away from city lights, expect to see 10 to 18 meteors per hour at peak — roughly one every four to six minutes. That might sound modest compared to the Perseids or Geminids, but the Lyrids have a trick up their sleeve: fireballs.
Lyrid fireballs are some of the most impressive in any shower. They're caused by meteoroids the size of a large marble rather than a grain of sand, and they can light up the entire sky for a second or two, sometimes leaving glowing smoke trails (called persistent trains) that hang in the atmosphere for several minutes. About 15–20% of Lyrid meteors are bright enough to be classed as fireballs.
The Lyrids also have a history of surprise outbursts. These happen roughly every 60 years when Earth passes through a particularly dense strand of Comet Thatcher's debris trail. The most recent confirmed outburst was in 1982, when rates briefly surged to 90 per hour. The next is expected around 2042 — but the Lyrids have surprised observers before, and lower-level surges can happen in any year.
At the very least, you'll see a handful of bright, fast shooting stars on a beautiful dark spring night. At best, you might catch a fireball that makes you gasp.
How to Photograph a Meteor
Capturing a meteor on camera is partly skill, partly luck — but the Lyrids' fireballs improve your odds significantly.
With a smartphone: Modern phones (iPhone 12+, Samsung Galaxy S21+, Google Pixel 4+) have excellent night modes. Mount your phone on a small tripod, aim at the sky roughly 40° from Vega, and set the exposure to the longest available (often 10–30 seconds in Night Mode or Pro mode). Set ISO to 800–1600. Take frame after frame — think of it as casting a net. The more exposures you take, the more likely one will contain a meteor.
With a DSLR or mirrorless camera: Use a wide-angle lens (14–24mm), set to f/2.8 or wider, ISO 1600–3200, and exposures of 15–25 seconds. Focus manually on a bright star (Vega works perfectly). Use an intervalometer or the camera's built-in interval timer to shoot continuously. Over an hour, you'll accumulate dozens of frames — stack the best ones later to create a composite showing multiple meteor trails.
The secret: Point your camera at an interesting foreground — a treeline, a church spire, a ruin. A meteor alone is impressive; a meteor above a recognisable landscape is a photograph people share.
While You're Out — Comet PanSTARRS
If you're already outside watching for Lyrids in the predawn hours, keep an eye out for Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), which passed perihelion on 19 April and is now transitioning from a morning to an evening object. It's currently around magnitude 4–5 and may be visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch low in the twilight sky. Binoculars will show it clearly.
The comet hasn't been seen for roughly 170,000 years, and forward scattering of sunlight through its dust tail may push it brighter still in the coming days. If you've got binoculars with you for meteor watching, point them toward the western twilight sky after sunset — you might catch two celestial shows in one night.
For a full guide to the comet, see our earlier post: A Comet Not Seen for 170,000 Years Is About to Light Up the Sky.
Key Dates at a Glance
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 16 April | Lyrid shower becomes active — early meteors possible |
| 17 April | New Moon — darkest skies of the month begin |
| 19 April | Comet PanSTARRS reaches perihelion |
| 22–23 April | Lyrid peak — best night, Moon sets 1:30am, dark skies until dawn |
| 25 April | Lyrid shower ends |
| 27 April | Comet PanSTARRS closest to Earth (44 million miles) |
What to bring: Warm clothing (April nights are still cold — expect 3–7°C after midnight), a reclining chair or groundsheet, a flask of something warm, and patience. No binoculars or telescope needed — your eyes are the best meteor detector there is.
Clear skies, and happy hunting.
