Uneventful Lyrids

 

Peak night for the annual Lyrids meteor shower in 2026 was during the night of April 21-22. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, conditions were great for the potential show-- clear skies, no moon interference and mild temperatures (lower 60 degrees F). Many sources predicted "20 meteors per hour, with some being fireballs." I headed outside with anticipation a little after 2:30 am (Wednesday, April 22). Very quickly (or should I say very slowly) it became apparent the forecast numbers would not be the case. In just under two hours from my backyard vantage point I counted only 7 or 8 meteor streaks viewed. Of these, I did see one fireball-- low in the eastern sky, but of course it was out of frame of my continuously operating Nikon Z6ii camera. The only actual camera capture of these handful of meteors streaks is shown above. The image looks northeast at 3:53 am CDT and is a 15 second exposure at f/2.5, ISO 640 and 35mm focal length. 

The Lyrids meteor shower occurs in the month of April each year and appears to radiate from the constellation Lyra. The source of this event is caused by particles of dust shed by the Comet Thatcher entering Earth's atmosphere.