Meteor showers · 2027
Lyrids 2027: when and where to look
The best night for the Lyrids in 2027 is Apr 22-23. At the peak, expect up to 10 meteors an hour from a dark place, and about 4 from a city or a bright suburb.
The Moon is 95% lit and up most of the night, so its glow will hide the fainter meteors. You'll still catch the bright ones; keep the Moon behind you.
Medium speed, with the odd bright one. Some years bring a short burst of many more.
From your city
The best night and time, which way to look, and how many to expect where you are.
or pick a place:
The best time from these cities
| City | Best night | Best time | Radiant | Dark place | City | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai, CN | Apr 22-23 | 3:46 AM GMT+8 | 86° northeast | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 3:46 AM GMT+8 · 86° northeast · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Beijing, CN | Apr 22-23 | 3:39 AM GMT+8 | 80° southeast | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 3:39 AM GMT+8 · 80° southeast · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Delhi, IN | Apr 22-23 | 4:20 AM GMT+5:30 | 85° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:20 AM GMT+5:30 · 85° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Istanbul, TR | Apr 22-23 | 4:20 AM GMT+3 | 79° southeast | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:20 AM GMT+3 · 79° southeast · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Lagos, NG | Apr 22-23 | 4:24 AM GMT+1 | 62° north | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:24 AM GMT+1 · 62° north · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Karachi, Sindh, PK | Apr 22-23 | 4:37 AM GMT+5 | 81° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:37 AM GMT+5 · 81° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Tokyo, JP | Apr 22-23 | 3:19 AM GMT+9 | 85° east | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 3:19 AM GMT+9 · 85° east · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Moscow, RU | Apr 22-23 | 2:09 AM GMT+3 | 57° southeast | 5 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 2:09 AM GMT+3 · 57° southeast · 5 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Mumbai, Maharashtra, IN | Apr 22-23 | 4:47 AM GMT+5:30 | 75° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:47 AM GMT+5:30 · 75° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| São Paulo, BR | Apr 22-23 | 3:26 AM GMT-3 | 32° north | 2 | 1 | Apr 22-23 · 3:26 AM GMT-3 · 32° north · 2 an hour dark, 1 in a city |
| Jakarta, ID | Apr 22-23 | 4:39 AM GMT+7 | 49° north | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:39 AM GMT+7 · 49° north · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Cairo, EG | Apr 22-23 | 3:46 AM GMT+2 | 85° northeast | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 3:46 AM GMT+2 · 85° northeast · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Seoul, KR | Apr 22-23 | 4:03 AM GMT+9 | 83° southeast | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:03 AM GMT+9 · 83° southeast · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Lima, PE | Apr 22-23 | 2:59 AM GMT-5 | 41° north | 2 | 1 | Apr 22-23 · 2:59 AM GMT-5 · 41° north · 2 an hour dark, 1 in a city |
| Mexico City, CDMX, MX | Apr 22-23 | 2:46 AM CST | 61° northeast | 2 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 2:46 AM CST · 61° northeast · 2 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, VN | Apr 22-23 | 4:14 AM GMT+7 | 66° north | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:14 AM GMT+7 · 66° north · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| London, England, GB | Apr 22-23 | 3:18 AM GMT+1 | 64° southeast | 5 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 3:18 AM GMT+1 · 64° southeast · 5 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Dhaka, BD | Apr 22-23 | 4:02 AM GMT+6 | 80° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:02 AM GMT+6 · 80° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Bengaluru, Karnataka, IN | Apr 22-23 | 4:43 AM GMT+5:30 | 68° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 4:43 AM GMT+5:30 · 68° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| New York | Apr 22-23 | 3:12 AM EDT | 68° east | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 3:12 AM EDT · 68° east · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Bangkok, TH | Apr 22-23 | 4:42 AM GMT+7 | 69° north | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:42 AM GMT+7 · 69° north · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Riyadh, SA | Apr 22-23 | 3:58 AM GMT+3 | 81° north | 4 | 3 | Apr 22-23 · 3:58 AM GMT+3 · 81° north · 4 an hour dark, 3 in a city |
| Hong Kong, HK | Apr 22-23 | 4:35 AM GMT+8 | 78° north | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 4:35 AM GMT+8 · 78° north · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
| Bogotá, CO | Apr 22-23 | 2:42 AM GMT-5 | 56° northeast | 3 | 2 | Apr 22-23 · 2:42 AM GMT-5 · 56° northeast · 3 an hour dark, 2 in a city |
Meteors an hour at the best time on the best night, for one person watching the whole sky. Times are local.
Where to look
The Lyrids seem to fly out from Lyra, near the bright star Vega, but they can appear anywhere in the sky, and the ones away from that point have longer trails. Look about halfway up, toward the darkest part of your sky.
Give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust, put your phone away (its screen resets your night vision), and lie back so you can take in as much sky as you can. No telescope or binoculars: they show too little sky.
Open Look up on the Sky Globe While the shower is on, Look up marks where they come from.
What they are
- Comes from
- Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)
- Speed
- 49 km/s (about 110,000 mph)
- Peak rate, perfect sky
- 18 an hour (IMO)
- Active
- Apr 14 to Apr 30
Each meteor is a grain of dust, most smaller than a grain of sand, left behind by Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1). Earth runs into that dust on the same days every year, and the grains burn up about 100 km overhead.
Saw a fireball?
A meteor brighter than Venus is a fireball. Every shower makes a few. If you saw one, or something you can't place, tell us when and where and we'll check it against the shower, satellites, rockets and planes.
The next showers
How we work this out: the peak is when the Sun reaches the shower's place along its yearly path (the International Meteor Organization's way of timing it, with their numbers for the peak rate, the radiant and the speed). For each place we follow the night in 10-minute steps and scale the rate for how high the radiant is, twilight, the Moon and city lights. It's an estimate: clouds, haze and your eyes all change it.