Seeing a shooting star is very rare - many have sat outside for hours just to see one in their lifetime. While this year hasn't seemed so lucky, that could change this week. The Lyrid Meteor Shower starts tonight and will bring hundreds of shooting stars to the Georgian sky. The Lyrid Meteor Shower, one of the oldest showers of all time, starts tonight, Thursday, April 16. According to NASA, this specific shower has been observed for over 2,700 years. Space.com reports, “Lyrid meteors are little pieces of Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the sun about once every 415 years. Pieces of debris left in the comet's wake, however, make an appearance every year.” With the shelter-in-place guidelines across Georgia, viewers will have to observe this rare shower from their backyards or (for Midtown and Downtown Atlantans) balconies. Since this specific shower is so bright, telescopes aren't needed and will be visible with the naked eye. Viewers should know that NASA has determined that human eyes will adapt to the dark night sky after about 30 minutes and then the meteors will be visible to the human eye. View this post on Instagram Started my day with the #milkyway 🤩 and a few #shootingstars Pretty easy to maintain #socialdistance at 3am 😂 How did I do for my first time shooting the #milkywaycore and first attempt at a #milkywaypanorama ❔ 17 portrait shots stitched into this landscape panorama: #Sigma20mmArt f1.4 10 second exposures ISO 2000 #SonyA7III #witns A post shared by Oliver Parker | Magician (@funprovider) on Apr 16, 2020 at 5:42am PDT The shower starts tonight and will end around April 25. The peak of the shower, which will be the best time to view it, will be on Wednesday, April 22. The shower will be clearest starting at 10:30 p.m., however this will fluctuate depending on specific areas. The early morning hours of April 22 will be the shower's time to shine. The shower will create up to 20 shooting stars per hour so you'll have to see. The weather in Atlanta is currently forecasted to be cloudy with some rain, so this will hinder how many shooting stars viewers will see per hour. View this post on Instagram Stop and look up. ✨ #appreciatethelittlethings #itsbetteroutside . . . . . . . #wildoutdoorsclub #shootingstar #meteorshower #stars #nightphotography #wilderness #findmeintheforest #outdoors #unplug #2020 #wildandfree #starlight #thegoodlife #nightsky #wander #exploremore #appreciate #playoutside #dreamy #bliss #staywild A post shared by WILD OUTDOORS CLUB🌲 (@wildoutdoorsclub) on Apr 14, 2020 at 10:23pm PDT According to Space.com, those in the Northern Hemisphere have the best opportunity to see the showers because of the way the Earth will be orbiting during this time of year. This shower happens every year during this same orbit. View this post on Instagram Galactic Core . . . . . . . . . #nightscape#earthofficial#bbcearth#astro#astrophotography#milkyway#stars#nightsky#geminids#meteorshower#twanight#natgeoyourshot#roam#newmilkyway#nightimages#earthfocus#bbcearth#earthpix#flashfolks A post shared by Prail Macwan (@prail_macwan) on Apr 12, 2020 at 8:05am PDT Everyone better get their yearly wishes ready because these showers won’t happen again until April 2021.
