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of April 21-22 (late night April 21 to dawn April 22). This modest shower often offers no more than 10 to 20 meteors per hour at its peak, but it has been known to have bursts of activity that could dazzle you. In a bit of bad timing, the moon is waxing (increasing) in size as the April 2013 Lyrid shower heads for its peak date. You will likely see the most meteors if you work around the drenching moonlight of the waxing gibbous moon. In fact, it might be better to watch this shower in the predawn sky over the new few days, instead of waiting until the peak date. That's because - each night - the waxing moon will set later and later, encroaching on the dark hours before dawn.
• As a general rule, the most Lyrid meteors tend to fly in the wee hours before dawn. From most latitudes, the optimal viewing window for watching these meteors is from about 2 a.m. local time (3 a.m. local daylight saving time) until dawn's first light. The moon will set a few hours before dawn throughout this weekend, leaving a dark sky for observing these fast-moving and sometimes surprisingly bright meteors.
• Like other meteor showers, the Lyrids are notorious for defying easy forecasting. Unexpected outbursts pushed the rates to 90 meteors per hour in 1982, 100 meteors per hour in 1922 and 700 meteors per hour in 1803. Ancient Chinese records claim these meteors literally fell like rain in 687 B.C. So you never know for sure what you'll get with the Lyrid shower. It could feature a home run derby, a no-hitter or most likely: something somewhere in between.
• That was especially true in 2012 when - at the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower on April 22 - people in California and Nevada saw a large fireball streak across the sky and heard a sonic boom that rattled windows. Later, the incoming object was (Continued on page 12)
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