The shooting star arrives when the Lilid Meteor Shower begins late Monday night as it reaches its peak. And Californians have the best views in the country.
The annual Meteor Shower event is the most visible in April, and is named after the harp constellation Lyra, located near the point in the sky where Lilid appears to be born. The shower is one of them, and observations date back over 2,700 years.
The peak of the event will be on Monday night, the early morning hours of Earth Day. Thanks to clear skies, almost everything in California is expected to have good viewing conditions, along with pockets in the Midwest, including parts of the other western states, parts of the southwest, and areas west and south of Chicago.
In Los Angeles and other major cities, Stargazers has difficulty viewing the shower despite weather conditions ideal for light pollution from homes, businesses, streetlights and cars.
“These events are notoriously invisible to the average person, as we are all drowned with artificial light. So there’s no prayer at all for most people to see this,” said director Ed Krupp.
To get a clearer view of the stars, Krupp suggests that Southern Californians should head towards the mountains and deserts. He said the chances of hopeful viewers being “far from urban invasions” are far better at catching more shooting stars.
Krupp, who has been director of the iconic LA Observatory since 1974, said it is important to ease expectations for what people can see from the meteor shower.
“The very name suggests that a meteor is flowing down on you,” he said. “You don’t see multiple meteors in a minute. Lilids are so populous that the average time between one and the next can be around three minutes. It’s a process that requires patience and attention.”
The name “Meteor Shower” may incorrectly mean that what viewers are seeing is the meteor itself, or the particles and bits of the remaining comets from the remaining asteroids. “You’re looking at a sparkling tunnel of hot air, 10 miles in diameter, produced by these very tiny pebbles burning through the atmosphere,” Krupp said.
Still, Krupp said seeing only one shooting star is a special experience and that if you’re in another Stargazer company, you’ll often get cheers. He describes the heavenly light as “charmers,” and says there is a “emotional and uplifting” feeling that you get when you witness it passing through the sky.
Krupp’s best tips for the best viewing experience include dressing as comfortable as possible, given that a dedicated audience can stare at the sky for at least a few hours and go past midnight. He added that shooting stars can be easy to miss, so focused and patient is important. He warns against cell phone use. Both are because of the light it emits and the distraction it causes.
As the shower peaks arrived during the first hours of Earth Day, Krupp laughed at the alignment of the Galaxy displays and adherence to the holidays.
“Cosmos is a cold, random, unconcerned place, but somehow it can converge with our own emotional bond,” he said.
