The Lyrids peak on the night of 22–23 April. Watch in the dark hours before moonrise.
The night of 22–23 April shows the most almost everywhere; in 6 of 87 cities, San Francisco, Portland and Denver among them, it is the night of 21–22 April. The moon is about 95% lit and rises during the night in all 87 cities: the dark hours before it are the ones to watch. The radiant, in Lyra, stands highest before dawn: from a dark site, expect about 6 meteors an hour at best in most of them, and up to 18 where it climbs highest.
Where you are
Your placeWorked out when the page opens
Dark sky—
The moon—
When to watch—
The radiant—
At a dark site—
The Americas
Atlanta22–23 Apr · 10:52 PM – 5:28 AM · radiant 68° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Austin22–23 Apr · 10:56 PM – 5:30 AM · radiant 69° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Bogotá22–23 Apr · 10:32 PM – 4:36 AM · radiant 56° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Boston22–23 Apr · 9:27 – 10:01 PM · radiant 15° up · about 4 an hour
Buenos Aires22–23 Apr · 1:58 – 5:58 AM · radiant 21° up · about 4 an hour · moon up
Chicago22–23 Apr · 9:35 – 10:08 PM · radiant 14° up · about 4 an hour
Dallas22–23 Apr · 10:45 PM – 5:20 AM · radiant 69° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Denver21–22 Apr · 9:53 PM – 4:33 AM · radiant 82° up · about 5 an hour · moon up
Houston22–23 Apr · 10:48 PM – 5:22 AM · radiant 69° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Las Vegas22–23 Apr · 9:47 PM – 4:24 AM · radiant 68° up · about 8 an hour · moon up
Lima22–23 Apr · 11:32 PM – 5:02 AM · radiant 42° up · about 7 an hour · moon up
Los Angeles22–23 Apr · 10:06 PM – 4:42 AM · radiant 69° up · about 8 an hour · moon up
Mexico City22–23 Apr · 10:33 PM – 4:57 AM · radiant 65° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Miami22–23 Apr · 10:59 PM – 5:29 AM · radiant 68° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Minneapolis22–23 Apr · 9:59 – 10:44 PM · radiant 18° up · about 5 an hour
Montréal22–23 Apr · 9:42 – 10:24 PM · radiant 18° up · about 5 an hour
Nashville22–23 Apr · 9:53 PM – 4:30 AM · radiant 68° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
New Orleans22–23 Apr · 10:26 PM – 5:00 AM · radiant 69° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
New York22–23 Apr · 9:45 – 10:07 PM · radiant 13° up · about 4 an hour
Philadelphia22–23 Apr · 9:53 – 10:09 PM · radiant 12° up · about 4 an hour
Phoenix22–23 Apr · 9:43 PM – 4:19 AM · radiant 68° up · about 8 an hour · moon up
Portland21–22 Apr · 9:57 PM – 4:20 AM · radiant 75° up · about 5 an hour · moon up
Rio de Janeiro22–23 Apr · 11:56 PM – 4:53 AM · radiant 32° up · about 7 an hour · moon up
Salt Lake City21–22 Apr · 10:16 PM – 4:57 AM · radiant 80° up · about 5 an hour · moon up
San Diego22–23 Apr · 10:06 PM – 4:41 AM · radiant 69° up · about 8 an hour · moon up
San Francisco21–22 Apr · 10:10 PM – 4:49 AM · radiant 84° up · about 6 an hour · moon up
Santiago22–23 Apr · 1:39 – 5:47 AM · radiant 22° up · about 4 an hour · moon up
São Paulo22–23 Apr · 12:13 – 5:07 AM · radiant 31° up · about 6 an hour · moon up
Seattle22–23 Apr · 10:09 – 10:59 PM · radiant 23° up · about 5 an hour
Toronto22–23 Apr · 9:57 – 10:41 PM · radiant 17° up · about 5 an hour
Vancouver22–23 Apr · 10:22 – 11:11 PM · radiant 25° up · about 5 an hour
Washington, DC21–22 Apr · 10:04 PM – 4:44 AM · radiant 83° up · about 4 an hour · moon up
Europe
Amsterdam22–23 Apr · 11:12 – 11:31 PM · radiant 25° up · about 5 an hour
Athens22–23 Apr · 10:24 PM – 5:03 AM · radiant 80° up · about 18 an hour · moon up
Barcelona22–23 Apr · 10:38 – 10:50 PM · radiant 12° up · about 2 an hour
Berlin22–23 Apr · 10:39 – 10:56 PM · radiant 24° up · about 5 an hour
Brussels22–23 Apr · 11:02 – 11:24 PM · radiant 23° up · about 5 an hour
Copenhagen22–23 Apr · 11:15 – 11:22 PM · radiant 29° up · about 6 an hour
Dublin22–23 Apr · 11:05 – 11:24 PM · radiant 26° up · about 6 an hour
Edinburgh22–23 Apr · 11:22 – 11:30 PM · radiant 30° up · about 7 an hour
Hamburg22–23 Apr · 11:02 – 11:17 PM · radiant 26° up · about 5 an hour
Helsinki22–23 Apr · 10:54 PM – 12:13 AM · radiant 35° up · about 7 an hour
Istanbul22–23 Apr · 9:52 – 9:57 PM · radiant 11° up · about 2 an hour
Lisbon22–23 Apr · 10:33 PM – 5:12 AM · radiant 68° up · about 15 an hour · moon up
London22–23 Apr · 10:25 – 10:47 PM · radiant 24° up · about 5 an hour
Madrid22–23 Apr · 11:05 – 11:12 PM · radiant 11° up · about 2 an hour
Milan22–23 Apr · 10:10 – 10:37 PM · radiant 16° up · about 3 an hour
Moscow22–23 Apr · 10:36 PM – 2:19 AM · radiant 58° up · about 13 an hour · moon up
Munich22–23 Apr · 10:15 – 10:39 PM · radiant 19° up · about 4 an hour
Nice22–23 Apr · 10:10 – 10:38 PM · radiant 14° up · about 3 an hour
Oslo22–23 Apr · 10:48 PM – 12:11 AM · radiant 35° up · about 8 an hour
Paris22–23 Apr · 10:57 – 11:22 PM · radiant 20° up · about 4 an hour
Porto22–23 Apr · 10:22 – 10:35 PM · radiant 11° up · about 3 an hour
Prague22–23 Apr · 10:16 – 10:37 PM · radiant 22° up · about 4 an hour
Reykjavík22–23 Apr · 12:07 – 1:52 AM · radiant 45° up · about 13 an hour
Rome22–23 Apr · 9:54 – 10:09 PM · radiant 12° up · about 2 an hour
Stockholm22–23 Apr · 12:13 – 1:18 AM · radiant 47° up · about 11 an hour · moon up
Venice22–23 Apr · 9:58 – 10:24 PM · radiant 16° up · about 3 an hour
Vienna22–23 Apr · 9:56 – 10:20 PM · radiant 19° up · about 4 an hour
Warsaw22–23 Apr · 10:06 – 10:22 PM · radiant 24° up · about 5 an hour
Zürich22–23 Apr · 10:23 – 10:48 PM · radiant 18° up · about 4 an hour
Africa
Cairo22–23 Apr · 9:21 PM – 3:55 AM · radiant 84° up · about 18 an hour · moon up
Cape Town22–23 Apr · 1:46 – 5:50 AM · radiant 21° up · about 6 an hour · moon up
Lagos22–23 Apr · 11:17 PM – 5:24 AM · radiant 57° up · about 14 an hour · moon up
Marrakesh22–23 Apr · 10:53 PM – 5:28 AM · radiant 69° up · about 15 an hour · moon up
Nairobi22–23 Apr · 11:25 PM – 5:18 AM · radiant 55° up · about 15 an hour · moon up
Asia
Bali22–23 Apr · 11:32 PM – 5:10 AM · radiant 46° up · about 9 an hour · moon up
Bangkok22–23 Apr · 10:29 PM – 4:47 AM · radiant 69° up · about 12 an hour · moon up
Beijing22–23 Apr · 9:07 PM – 3:46 AM · radiant 82° up · about 11 an hour · moon up
Bengaluru22–23 Apr · 10:33 PM – 4:49 AM · radiant 68° up · about 14 an hour · moon up
Delhi22–23 Apr · 9:51 PM – 4:24 AM · radiant 85° up · about 14 an hour · moon up
Hong Kong22–23 Apr · 10:12 PM – 4:39 AM · radiant 78° up · about 12 an hour · moon up
Kyoto22–23 Apr · 9:07 PM – 3:44 AM · radiant 86° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Mumbai22–23 Apr · 10:36 PM – 4:59 AM · radiant 74° up · about 14 an hour · moon up
Osaka22–23 Apr · 9:09 PM – 3:46 AM · radiant 87° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Seoul22–23 Apr · 9:33 PM – 4:12 AM · radiant 84° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Shanghai22–23 Apr · 9:16 PM – 3:51 AM · radiant 87° up · about 11 an hour · moon up
Singapore22–23 Apr · 11:49 PM – 5:48 AM · radiant 56° up · about 11 an hour · moon up
Taipei22–23 Apr · 9:34 PM – 4:04 AM · radiant 81° up · about 11 an hour · moon up
Tel Aviv22–23 Apr · 10:00 PM – 4:36 AM · radiant 88° up · about 18 an hour · moon up
Tokyo22–23 Apr · 8:49 PM – 3:27 AM · radiant 86° up · about 10 an hour · moon up
Oceania
Auckland22–23 Apr · 1:41 – 5:25 AM · radiant 19° up · about 3 an hour · moon up
Brisbane22–23 Apr · 12:11 – 4:50 AM · radiant 28° up · about 5 an hour · moon up
Honolulu21–22 Apr · 10:22 PM – 4:49 AM · radiant 77° up · about 7 an hour · moon up
Melbourne22–23 Apr · 1:48 – 5:25 AM · radiant 18° up · about 3 an hour · moon up
Perth22–23 Apr · 1:04 – 5:20 AM · radiant 23° up · about 5 an hour · moon up
Sydney22–23 Apr · 12:54 – 4:59 AM · radiant 22° up · about 4 an hour · moon up
How it is worked out
The showerThe International Meteor Organization puts the Lyrids’ rate at 18 an hour at the peak, for a radiant overhead under a perfectly dark sky. The rate here falls away on either side of the peak as the organization’s profile does.
The nightThe peak is an instant, 2027-04-23 01:39 UTC this time. Each place’s night is the one, of the three around it, whose best hour shows the most meteors.
The radiantThe radiant is the point the meteors seem to come from, in Lyra, at +34° of declination. The higher it stands, the more meteors reach your sky: the rate here is the shower’s times the sine of its height.
The dark and the moonDark is the sun 18° below the horizon. The moon’s light hides the fainter meteors, so the hours to watch are the dark ones after it sets, read through the night to the minute.
Your own skyThe rates are for a dark site with a clear sky. Street lights hide most meteors, so a town shows far fewer, and cloud shows none.
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