By Madame Dana Zia
This weekend is a starry-ful weekend with the Lyrid meteor showers peaking on the 22nd in the morning. If you have clear skies (and we should), there is a chance of seeing 10-20 meteors per hour, so a small but beautiful meteor shower. Look at the Northeastern sky.
Earthsky news shared this “The radiant point for the Lyrid meteor shower – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is easy to find. The point is just to the right of beautiful blue-white star Vega, which is the brightest light in the constellation Lyra the Harp. Vega is bright enough to overcome the glare of some light-polluted cities, but of course most meteors won’t be. So find a country location if you want to see Vega, its constellation Lyra and the Lyrid meteors!”
Then do not miss the stunning sliver of a Moon in Cancer in the western sky right after sunset. Venus is there too and even though they are no longer conjunct, the evening sky is still awash with their beauty. If you turn around from watching the Moon and Venus you will behold Jupiter rising in Scorpio in the eastern sky. So get out to the country somewhere and celebrate Earth day the 21st, and National Astronomy day the 22nd, by beholding the beauty of the sky from this precious jewel Earth, we call home.
