Stargazers will be in for a treat tonight, as the Lyrid meteor shower will be lighting up the night sky for the next couple of evenings.
The meteor shower will be visible from tonight (Sunday, April 19), and is expected to peak in the predawn hours on Wednesday.
Check out this spectacular footage captured by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center of the 2014 Lyrid meteor shower:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/tlyTgHjw-Q0L14jDU.mp4||tlyTgHjw]]
According to EarthSky, "no matter where you are on Earth, the best time to watch is between midnight and dawn. You’ll want to watch in a dark country sky."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/latestinspace/status/1250950310669037569]]
But fortunately for those of us in the UK and the USA, the Northern Hemisphere offers the greatest visibility of the Lyrid meteor shower.
According to NASA, it is best you come "prepared with a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair" in order to watch the shower in total comfort. They suggest: "Lie flat on your back with your feet facing east and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible."
After about 30 minutes in the pitch black, your eyes will "adapt and you will begin to see meteors".
In addition, being in an area with clear visibility and low light pollution levels will also help you to get the most out of this cosmic display.
Lyrid meteors also come in fast and are more likely to be seen if you are facing east.
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Pexels]]
The Lyrid meteors are small pieces of Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits our sun about once every 415 years, Space.com reports.
Despite the fact Comet Thatcher won't be back in our skies until the year 2276, pieces of debris left in the comet's wake still make an appearance every year - these are the Lyrid meteors.
Meteor showers occur when our planet crosses the path of a comet, colliding with a trail of the comet's debris. This is why they occur around the same time every year and appear to originate from specific points in the sky.
What many people call "shooting stars" are actually pieces of the comet debris burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.
Previous Lyrid meteor showers have seen hundreds of shooting stars light up the night sky every hour - so fingers crossed we will be treated to a similar display over the next few nights.