Lyrid meteor shower

Has anyone spotted any lyrid meteors yet and/or have images?

I know it doesnt peak til 22nd...........................but there should be a few strays zooming about the skies right now.

I'm so frustrated cuz the days are sunny and clear here on the east coast but as soon as the sun sets....................clouds move in from the west.

I think the powers that be got their dates wrong for the Lyrids. I was outside observing from about 11pm on the night of 21st April until 5am on the morning of the 22nd (periodically). There was thin cloud cover but i could clearly see the moon and a couple of dozen brighter stars.

Not a single meteor did i spot.

What was i doing wrong?

Maybe even the thin cloud was too thick to be able to spot any?

I have to say that the moon looked pretty cool through the brownish/yellow cloud................very eerie looking. It was almost a full moon (just past it i think) but the light from it was nothing like that of a full moon.

Hi Paul,

The Lyrids have pretty low rates so don't worry that you didn't catch any. Occasionally there has been a very, very brief outburst (30 minutes or so) but generally it's a real test of patience to spy a few shower members. The meteors can be faint too -- unless the sky conditions are pretty good then the numbers of meteors seen will tail off dramatically.

The Lyrids were probably the first meteor shower I set out to do a serious watch on and I submitted the results to the International Meteor Organisation at the time in 1990. Have a look at the IMO web site at www.imo.net and see if there have been any reports there ... their message board would have any reports or observations posted by members.

Historically, I think the Lyrids are the oldest known meteor shower in terms of tracing reports back through the old chronicles. I sometimes dub them "The Tears of Orpheus" after the character in the Greek myth -- the moniker has never caught on though! The more famous Perseids in August are sometimes nicknamed "The Tears of St. Lawrence".

Nice comment about the colour of the Moon ... our neighbour is space is wonderful to watch even with the unaided eye.

All the best,

John

Thanks John. I'll have a browse.

I have to say that the moon looked pretty cool through the brownish/yellow cloud................very eerie looking. It was almost a full moon (just past it i think) but the light from it was nothing like that of a full moon.

Something like this?

Close to that John but more eerie. The cloud coverd the surface in a "dirty" brown colour. It really did look amazingly strange but beautiful. The surface of the moon was not as white or bright as in your pic................

It was the brownish colour of the clouds in your pic.

I NEVER tire of looking at the moon with a scope,bins or naked eye..........

It truely is one amazingly beautiful object.

I have to say that it never looks prettier then when it is a new moon........

That is just mind blowing.