If you look up at the sky tonight, you might see dozens of meteors. Tonight is the peak Lyrid meteor showerwhich can be seen with the naked eye in a clear sky.

Lyrids can be seen for several days around this time each year. The swarm will reach its peak around 4:00 tonight. There are about sixteen meteors per hour.

Meteorites are often referred to as shooting stars, but they are small pieces of rock that burn up in the atmosphere. The high speed at which particles enter the atmosphere creates friction, which causes space debris to glow. This looks like a shooting star. A meteor shower is a group of meteors that appear in the same area at about the same time.

Not all shooting stars seen tonight belong to Lyrids. Every night, several meteors enter Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the meteors entering the atmosphere tonight are part of the Virgo swarm.

Named after the Lier constellation, the Lyrid Swarm is the oldest known meteor shower. Meteorites were first spotted about 2,600 years ago. Lyrid meteorites are very bright, sometimes so bright that they form fireballs. A meteorite is called a fireball if it is brighter than Venus, the brightest planet in our starry sky.

Meteor showers happen several times a month, but they are not always visible from the Netherlands. For example, some meteor showers are only visible in the Southern Hemisphere. One of the most famous meteor showers is the Perseids, which can be seen in mid-August.