Look up! Lyrid fireballs will flash across the night sky this week
The oldest meteor shower on record reaches its peak this week
After an odd uptick in the number of fireballs streaking through our skies, we have now slipped into the debris stream of an ancient comet that should produce even more of these bright meteors, as the Lyrid meteor shower soon reaches its peak.
On April 14, our planet began passing through a concentrated stream of ice, dust, and pebbles, left behind by a comet named C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). Comet Thatcher is, currently, far out in the solar system, well beyond the orbit of Pluto, and not due to return to Earth's vicinity until the year 2283.
This simulation shows the orbit and debris stream from Comet Thatcher, as viewed from far out in the solar system. The locations of the inner planets are indicated as of April 22, 2026, with Earth intersecting the orbital path of the comet. Credit: Meteorshowers.org/Scott Sutherland
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Every year during the latter half of April, though, our planet's atmosphere sweeps up meteoroids from this comet, as its debris stream . As these meteoroids pass through the upper atmosphere, they put enormous pressure on the air in their path, causing that air to light up in a flash known as a meteor.
As all of these particular meteors can be traced back to a point in the sky near the constellation Lyra, this is known as the Lyrid meteor shower.
The Lyrids is the oldest of all the yearly meteor showers. According to records, it was first observed over 2,700 years ago!
The position of the Lyrid 'radiant', in the northeastern sky, around midnight on the night of April 22-23, 2026, when the Lyrids peak. We will have a Waxing Crescent Moon on that night, which will rise before noon on the 22nd, and set after midnight on the 23rd. (Stellarium)
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As with nearly all meteor showers, the Lyrids follow a specific pattern, night-to-night. During the first week or so, it only produces a few meteors every hour. Then, their numbers ramp up, reaching a peak as we pass through the densest part of the debris stream. After that, their numbers ramp down again until the shower ends when we pass out of the stream altogether.
For the Lyrids, we enter Comet Thatcher's debris stream on April 14 each year. The shower then peaks on the night of April 22-23 (in 2026), and it ends every year on April 30.
The meteor shower is active from dusk to dawn each night during that period. The radiant — the point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate from — will be just above the northeastern horizon after sunset. So, we only need to wait for the Sun to set for the show to begin. The radiant then climbs higher in the sky, along with the bright star, Vega, and reaches its apex, directly above, just before dawn.
During the Lyrids peak, observers consistently report seeing up to 20 meteors per hour throughout the night.
While most of these will be just bright enough to see and last for only a fraction of a second, some will surprise us with their brightness!
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Lyrid Fireballs!
While the Lyrids are only considered a 'moderate' meteor shower, it includes an extra special treat for those who get out to see it — exceptionally bright meteors known as fireballs.
A fireball is any meteor that shines at least as bright as the planet Venus in our sky. Some can even be spotted from hundreds of kilometres in all directions.
This image of a Lyrid meteor fireball was captured from Port Elmsley, Ontario, along with the Aurora Borealis, in April of 2017. (Fiona Donnelly/UGC)
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Fireballs are common during the Lyrids due to the exceptional speed that comet Thatcher debris is travelling at when it gets swept up by our planet. Plunging into Earth's atmosphere at speeds of around 100,000 kilometres per hour, any meteoroid larger than a grain of dust can blaze a bright trail across the sky.
Lyrid fireballs are often bright enough to be spotted even during a Full Moon, or by observers affected by the densest urban light pollution. So, keep an eye out for them throughout the night.