The Lyrids appear in Chinese writing dating back to roughly 690 BCE, making them one of the earliest meteor showers on record. On the night of April 22, the annual shower will reach its peak for 2023. The meteor shower is a result of Earth passing through the tail of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. When our planet moves through this debris field, the space rocks burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, causing spectacular lights to streak across the night sky.

The Lyrids are one of the weaker annual meteor showers visible from Earth. On peak nights, they usually produce no more than 20 shooting stars per hour. The event is also unpredictable: On rare occasions, spectators are treated to incredible surges of up to 100 meteors per hour. For this reason, the Lyrids are worth checking out for diehard astronomy enthusiasts.

Come out to the Heide Observatory and enjoy a relaxing evening in our anti-gravity chairs as we point out the night-sky objects and watch for meteors.

Tickets and chairs are limited so reserve soon.

This event is weather-dependent and will be canceled or rescheduled by e-mail 24 hours before the scheduled start time in the event of a cloud cover forecast greater than 30%. Reservations can be transferred for any other nightly observatory event.

Dress appropriately for being still in nighttime outdoor weather.

Questions? Feel free to contact us at observatory@hawthornhollow.org