Composite of Lyrid and non-Lyrid meteors, over New Mexico April 21-23, 2012. (NASA/MSFC/Danielle Moser)

The Lyrid meteor shower is due to arrive April 22nd. Expect to see approximately 10-20 meteors per hour at the peak of the shower. The event begins on April 16 and peaks on the night of April 22 and in the early morning of April 23. Due to the moon phase in 2013, the predawn hours on April 22 will be best for meteor-watching. The Lyrids shower is know for surges that can bring up to 100 per hour. These outburst cannot be easily predicted but they are a good reason to check Lyrids out.

Lyrids is composed of debris from Comet C/1861 G1 ThatcherLyrids has been observed for more than 2,600 years. Each year n mid-April of each Earth runs into the debris from the comet, which causes the Lyrid meteor shower. Lyrids are named for the  constellation Lyra, where they originate near the star called Alpha Lyrae, or Vega.