The Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight In Twin Falls

We've been stuck indoors for a month and many of us are looking for any reason to step outside. Well, Mother Nature is giving you a good reason tonight as the Lyrid meteor shower will peak tonight over the Magic Valley according to Space.com. There are a few great meteor showers each year including the Perseid in August and the Leonids in November. The Perseid meteor shower is famous for long trailed meteors while the Leonids are quick bursts of light as the hit the atmosphere head on. The meteor shower tonight with they Lyrid meteors, little pieces of the Comet Thatcher, come in at the the Earth at an angle making long trails though not as bright as the Perseid.

Tonight will be a pretty good night to step outside and watch for the meteors because the moon will be just a sliver of light and we should have clear skies for weather. The shooting stars should start to appear around 10:30 with the best viewing happening around the early hours before dawn. Watch for the meteors coming from the star Vega, which rises in the northeast around 9 or 10 pm according to EarthSky.org. If you can't watch the sky tonight, the meteor shower continues until April 30th.

You can expect to see between 10 and 15 trails of light in good conditions, so you may have to be patient and just watch the sky. While you wait for the meteors to go streaking across the sky you'll probably also start to notice more of the Space-X Starlink Satellites lining up in the sky. And if you are extra lucky you might see a UFO...but probably not.