Come Thursday morning (April 22), the first good meteor shower in nearly four months reaches its peak with the annual Lyrid meteor shower, although a bright moon could interfere. Observers looking skyward under dark, clear skies may see 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Many of these meteors tend to be brilliant and appear to move fairly fast, streaking through our atmosphere at an average velocity of 30 miles per second. About a quarter of them leave persistent trains. Within a day on either side of the maximum, a skywatcher can usually catch five to 10 Lyrids under good skies.
