Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week: Here's how to watch

The Lyrid meteors have been visible from Earth for thousands of years.
The Lyrid meteors have been visible from Earth for thousands of years. (Image credit: Kevin Key/Slworking via Getty Images)

A breathtaking cosmic light show, the Lyrid meteor shower, peaks this week, and even with social distancing you can be a part of this epic phenomenon. 

Meteor showers occur when debris from a comet's tail vaporizes in our atmosphere, visible from far below as glowing trails of heated atmospheric gas. The glowing trails seen during the Lyrids are fragments of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. These streaming particles of space debris have been visible from Earth for more than 2,600 years, trailing behind the Thatcher comet as it orbits the sun. 

Related: See Earth fly through meteor showers' wandering, warped paths (animation)

Viewing conditions are especially favorable this year; the Lyrids' peak coincides with the new moon (when the lunar disk is invisible to the naked eye), so the flashes of the meteors will stand out even more against the dark sky, says Space.com, a Live Science sister site. 

Originally published on Live Science.

OFFER: Save 45% on 'How It Works' 'All About Space' and 'All About History'!

OFFER: Save 45% on 'How It Works' 'All About Space' and 'All About History'!

For a limited time, you can take out a digital subscription to any of our best-selling science magazines for just $2.38 per month, or 45% off the standard price for the first three months.

Mindy Weisberger
Live Science Contributor

Mindy Weisberger is a science journalist and author of "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control" (Hopkins Press). She formerly edited for Scholastic and was a channel editor and senior writer for Live Science. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to LS, she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post, How It Works Magazine and CNN.