The skies are supposed to light up Earth Day as a meteor shower celebrates the holiday.
The annual Lyrid meteor shower is set to take place Sunday, April 22. They are caused by Earth’s orbit trough space dust and debris left from comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. The comet, however, last past by us in 1861 and should not return for a few more centuries.
Lyrids, which have been visible since 687 BCE, tend to be very bright and fast. You should be able to see a light dust “train” for several seconds.
Much of Europe and North America will have the best viewing at 2 a.m. local time.
As many as 20 meteors per hour should be viewable on the morning Earth Day. However, about every 60 years there is an “outburst” of Lyrids, when up to 100 meteors an hour are visible. Though the outbursts are pretty unpredictable.
The best way to see meteors is away from artificial light. So go outside and try to lie on your back and get a great areal view for the best sighting.