Lyrid meteor shower 2025: When and where is it visible at its peak hours?

Skygazers can rejoice because it’s time for yet another celestial show!

After months without a meteor shower, the Lyrids are here to kick off the season.

The Lyrids have graced the sky since April 17. According to the American Meteor Society, they will hang around until April 26, with the densest concentration of meteors flying by April 21 and 22. In a perfectly dark sky, onlookers can typically spot up to 18 meteors per hour during the Lyrid shower’s peak.

Read on to learn more about the Lyrid meteor shower 2025 .


What is the Lyrid meteor shower?

The April Lyrids are a meteor shower lasting roughly from about April 15 to April 29 each year. The radiant of the meteor shower is located near the constellations Lyra and the bright star Vega. The peak of the shower is typically around April 22–23 each year.

This year, however, light from the waning crescent moon will make it somewhat harder to see the celestial show.

That peak is forecast to last for two nights beginning Monday, April 21, before the second major meteor shower of the year officially comes to an end toward the end of the month.


According to NASA, the meteor shower itself, though, has been observed for 2,700 years ever since the first recorded sighting was made in 687 BC by the Chinese.

Best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Lyrid meteor shower is the world's oldest known of its kind and reliably occurs every April as Earth passes through debris from a comet named Thatcher. During the peak, Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream left behind by Comet Thatcher, which delivers the highest chance of a great shooting star show.

The Lyrid meteor shower is the second meteor shower of 2025 after the Quadrantids peaked in January. As the meteors will hit their peak in activity between Monday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 22, and will begin to slow down and stop altogether by Saturday, April 26 – it means that the Lyrids activity will overlap with another meteor shower known as the Eta Aquariids, which won't hit its peak until May 5 and 6.


The best time to watch the Lyrid meteor shower:

The Lyrids are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the dark hours between midnight and dawn. This year, the best time to catch the Lyrid meteor shower will be in the predawn hours around 3 or 4 a.m. local time. That's when the sky is at its darkest, and the radiant — the point in the sky from where the Lyrids appear to emanate — has risen to the highest point in the sky. The higher the radiant climbs, the more meteors you're likely to see. But remember, don't look directly at the radiant; instead, look a little off to the side to catch the longest, brightest trails.


Although the Lyrids are visible throughout the late evening, meteor showers in general produce more meteors after midnight. This is because during a meteor shower, Earth is ploughing through a stream of debris mostly left behind by a comet.


How many Lyrid meteors will we see per hour?

While NASA notes that the Lyrids can surprise watchers with as many as 100 meteors seen per hour, in general, 10-20 Lyrid meteors can be seen per hour during the peak. Lyrids don’t tend to leave long, glowing dust trains behind them as they streak through the Earth's atmosphere, but they can produce the occasional bright flash called a fireball.

The meteors seem to emerge – or radiate – from the constellation Lyra, specifically a bright star named Vega, according to astronomers. Seasoned stargazers should easily be able to find Vega in the night sky, but if you need help locating it, look above the horizon toward the northeast between about 9 to 10 p.m. ET. According to Earth Sky, Vega will then continue to climb upward until it is high enough in the sky that meteors radiating from that direction streak across.



Where in the US will the Lyrid meteor shower be visible?

According to AccuWeather, clouds and storms may interfere with the view of the Lyrid meteor shower for some observers this year. The commercial weather forecasting service says a storm is expected to move across the eastern half of North America during the peak shower activity, spreading clouds across most of the East Coast. Another storm is expected to bring cloudy conditions across much of the north-central US, as per AccuWeather.

That makes the West Coast and Southwest U.S., including central Texas, the best place to witness the Lyrids this year. A pocket of the Midwest, including areas west and south of Chicago, should also have good views, according to AccuWeather.