Lyrid Meteor Shower Begins This Week: How to See it in Idaho
For the next week, you may see even more weird stuff in the sky over Idaho than we normally see. The Lyrid meteor shower begins this week with the peak happening next Thursday, April 22nd.
If you are interested in what causes the Lyrid meteors, you can check out the story from EarthSky. For the important information for those who just want to see a few shooting stars over Idaho, you're in the right place. While the meteor shower does begin this week on Friday the 16th, your best chance to see anything begins Tuesday morning between midnight and sunrise. After Tuesday, the sightings will increase and are expected to peak on Thursday and Friday. Each day (or night) the best times for viewing are after midnight up until dawn.
There will be a bit of an issue this year though since we have a bright new moon lighting up the sky each night. So if you want to see the Lyrids you may have to wait until the moon sets and the sky gets dark enough. The meteors will radiate from the northeast but will be seen randomly popping up all across the sky. At the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower you can expect to see between 10 and 15 meteors per hour.
After the Lyrid meteor show you'll only have to wait until early May for the next sky show when the Eta Aquariids arrive. The Delta Aquariids begin in late July and August is when the famous Perseid meteor shower will happen.