Lyrid Meteor Shower will peak this evening with up to 18 shooting stars flying overhead every HOUR

Astronomy enthusiasts can see up to 18 shooting stars every hour tonight in a mesmerizing celestial display.

The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak at 02:06 BST on Sunday, when space rocks enter Earth’s atmosphere and create streaks of light.

While the April Storm takes its name from the constellation Lyra, this annual spectacle has nothing to do with stars.

Instead, these occur when Earth passes through the orbit of a comet discovered in 1861 called Comet Thatcher.

Professor Don Pollacco from the University of Warwick told MailOnline: ‘Earth passes through a number of comet orbits each year and at these times we see an increase in meteor activity depending on the density of the dust previously ejected from the comet.

The Lyrid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the orbit of a comet discovered in 1861 called Comet Thatcher. In fact, the Lyrid meteors have been seen and recorded for the past 2,700 years.

“The best time to see these is after midnight on a moonless night, with as little light pollution as possible. You’ll need a comfortable place to sit, as this shower only produces about 20 meteors an hour – if you’re lucky!’

Although its trail of debris is visible from Earth, this comet is quite far from us, orbiting the sun only once every 415 years.

The meteoroids themselves are also no bigger than pebbles, but they can reach speeds of about 110,000 miles per hour (180,000 km/h) when they fall.

In doing so, they crush the air in front of them, causing it to heat up to temperatures of 2,900 °F (1,600 °C) and glow.

While the Lyrid are not the brightest of rain showers, they are among the first to be observed by humans, as they were first noticed by Chinese astronomers in 687 BC.

The Lyrid meteor shower can be seen from anywhere on Earth, but the Northern Hemisphere has the best views, especially rural areas away from city lights.

As with all night sky phenomena, in order to see the Lyrids it is necessary to find a dark place with an unobstructed view of the sky.

It’s likely to be an overcast night across most of the UK, but clearer along the south and east coasts, according to the Met Office’s cloud cover map.

However, clouds will spread over Bournemouth and Norwich as we approach sunrise on Sunday morning.

The number of visible meteors depends on several things, from the time of night to the level of backlight.

A clear sky will drown out the fainter ones, making them much harder to see.

This year, however, the Lyrids started on April 14 and peak in the early hours of April 23, just after new moon, so conditions are favorable.

To pinpoint what the meteors are passing through, locate the brightest star in the constellation Lyra to find what astronomers call the “shining one.”

This is the point in the sky from which the meteors become visible to us on Earth.

The radiant point will rise in the east just after midnight and then more and more meteors will be visible above the horizon.

However, the sky will also brighten as we approach sunrise around 05:50 BST, meaning it will be more difficult to see the shower.

The shooting stars appear as sideways streaks in the sky because Earth moves through Comet Thatcher’s debris field as it orbits the sun.

If you miss the Lyrids, you still have a chance to catch a shooting star on May 6, when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak.

This produces up to 50 shooting stars per hour, which will travel into Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of about 148,000 mph (240,000 km/h).

Named because their radiant appears to be in the constellation of Aquarius, the Eta Aquariids were created by debris from Halley’s Comet.

In July, stargazers will be treated to the first supermoon of 2023, when Earth’s natural satellite appears much larger and brighter than on any other night.

Supermoons occur because the moon orbits the Earth on an elliptical path instead of a circular one.