Lyrid Meteor shower 2025: When, where and how to watch in India
The Lyrid Meteor Shower is observable on much of the globe, with many meteors visible each hour. You need a clear evening, a dark location free of city lights, and a sit or lie-back location. Here's everything you want to know about the Lyrid Meteor Shower in April 2025.The Lyrid Meteor Shower, or April Lyrids, is one of the oldest recorded meteor showers. It occurs annually between April 15 and April 29, with the peak occurring on the night of April 22 and early morning of April 23.This meteor shower is due to a comet known as Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1). As the Earth passes through the dust trail left behind by this comet, small bits of debris come into our atmosphere at high speed. When these particles disintegrate, they produce bright streaks of light in the sky, which we refer to as meteors or shooting stars.advertisementWHEN TO OBSERVE THE LYRID METEOR SHOWER IN APRIL 2025?
The Lyrids will appear between April 15 and April 29, but the prime time to observe them is during the peak night on April 22 and in the early hours of April 23. The ideal time for observation is from midnight to 5:00 am, right before sunrise. These are the darkest hours when the sky will be most observable, and the meteors will be less difficult to notice.This meteor shower is visible in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including India. For a better opportunity to witness the spectacle, go to a dark, quiet location far from street lights and the city. Face the northeast region of the sky, and keep watching. The longer you stay, the better.WHERE TO SEE THE LYRID METEOR SHOWER?advertisementThe Lyrid Meteor Shower can be viewed from most locations around the globe. Although it appears in both hemispheres, the Northern Hemisphere tends to have a slightly better observation.To fully appreciate the meteor shower:Find a dark spot, a village, a park, or a hilltop that is far from the lights of cities.Bring a sleeping bag or blanket, so you can recline and observe the sky in comfort.Don't use your phone or bright lights. Your eyes take a while to get used to the blackness.If the skies are clear, you might be able to spot 15 to 20 meteors per hour, and perhaps even some bright ones with glowing tails.Observing the Lyrid Meteor Shower is a relaxing and thrilling way of getting close to nature, and you don't have to use any equipment, only your eyes and a bit of patience.Must Watch
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Did you know?
Astronomers have discovered a massive planet orbiting an unusually small star, defying current theories of planetary formation. The star, TOI-6894 , is located about 240 light-years away in the constellation Leo and has just 21% the mass of the Sun. Yet, it hosts a gas giant roughly the size of Saturn much larger than expected for such a small star. This challenges existing models, which suggest that small stars form only small, rocky planets like Earth. Forming giant planets typically requires large amounts of material in a protoplanetary disk, which small stars aren't thought to possess. 'It's hard to build a giant planet in such conditions,' said study co-author Vincent Van Eylen. The planet completes an orbit in just three days, lying 40 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun. Despite its close orbit, it's cooler than typical 'hot Jupiters.' Its mass is 56% hat of Saturn and 17% of Jupiter. Data from NASA's TESS and the ESO's VLT were used for the discovery, with further observations planned using the James Webb Space Telescope.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Hint of ‘life' beyond Earth? Study reveals ‘surprising' biological activity on a distant planet
In the age of scientific evolution, technological advancements, and space exploration, we have often pondered over this one question for years – is there any planet beyond Earth that could sustain what we know as 'life'? Any planet that might be habitable for living beings in the future? In April 2025, the scientific community was abuzz with a groundbreaking announcement: astronomers had detected dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, located 124 light-years from Earth. DMS is a compound produced solely by biological processes on Earth, primarily by marine phytoplankton. This discovery was hailed as the strongest evidence yet of potential extraterrestrial life beyond our solar system. However, just weeks later, scientists are urging caution and emphasizing that the initial excitement may have been premature. Why? While the detection of DMS is intriguing, it does not definitively prove the existence of life on K2-18b. The compound could also be produced by unknown non-biological processes, and further observations are needed to confirm its origin. As per Dr. Luis Welbanks, a postdoctoral research scholar at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, 'It was exciting, but it immediately raised several red flags because that claim of a potential biosignature would be historic, but also the significance or the strength of the statistical evidence seemed to be too high for the data.' What is K2-18b? K2-18b, classified as a "Hycean" world, is a super-Earth exoplanet, meaning it's larger and more massive than Earth, that orbits a red dwarf star called K2-18. It's located about 124 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Leo. The planet is in its star's habitable zone, meaning it could potentially have liquid water on its surface, according to NASA. The exoplanet has a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a subsurface ocean. This environment could potentially support microbial life. In addition to DMS, the James Webb Space Telescope has detected methane and carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere, further suggesting conditions that might be conducive to life. However, despite these promising signs and excitement surrounding the same, scientists remain cautious. The detection of DMS alone is not sufficient to confirm the presence of life. As Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, of the University of Cambridge and the lead author of the April study , noted, "We have to question ourselves both on whether the signal is real and what it means." The initial excitement surrounding the discovery of DMS on K2-18b underscores the growing interest in the search for extraterrestrial life. However, it also highlights the complexities and challenges of interpreting data from distant exoplanets. Nikku Madhusudhan and his colleagues have conducted additional research that they say reinforces their previous finding about the planet. And it's likely that additional observations and research from multiple groups of scientists are on the horizon. The succession of research papers revolving around K2-18b offers a glimpse of the scientific process unfolding in real time. It's a window into the complexities and nuances of how researchers search for evidence of life beyond Earth — and shows why the burden of proof is so high and difficult to reach. However, the search for life beyond Earth continues. 'Are we really alone in this vast universe?' As scientists continue to analyze the data and conduct further observations, the prospective answers to that very question remain open. Analysis finds evidence for many exoplanets made of water and rock around small stars
NDTV
19 hours ago
- NDTV
Discovery Of Small Star Giving Birth To Huge Planet Leaves Scientists Puzzled
Astronomers were left stunned after they found a giant planet, about the same size as Saturn, orbiting a really small red dwarf star, a study published in Nature Astronomy revealed. The star, named TOI-6894, is only about a fifth the mass of the Sun. The observation is quite intriguing, as notable planet formation theories suggest that it shouldn't have happened, as small stars should host small planets similar to Earth and Mars, not big ones. Astronomers believe that small stars are not expected to have suitable conditions for planet formation. TOI-6894 is roughly 240 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. It is the smallest-known star to host a large planet. Meanwhile, the planet, called TOI-6894b, is a gas giant, like the Milky Way has Saturn and Jupiter. The planet is completing an orbit in approximately three days, as it is about 40 times closer to its star as compared to Earth is to the Sun. Its location suggests that TOI-6894b's surface must be hot. In size, it is bigger than Saturn but slightly smaller than Jupiter. In mass, it is 56% that of Saturn and 17% that of Jupiter. "I was very excited by this discovery. I originally searched through TESS observations of more than 91,000 low-mass red-dwarf stars looking for giant planets," says astrophysicist Edward Bryant of the University of Warwick in the UK, who led the international research team. "Then, using observations taken with one of the world's largest telescopes, ESO's VLT, I discovered TOI-6894b, a giant planet transiting the lowest mass star known to date to host such a planet. We did not expect planets like TOI-6894b to be able to form around stars this low-mass. This discovery will be a cornerstone for understanding the extremes of giant planet formation," Bryant said. Bryant added, "The question of how such a small star can host such a large planet is one that this discovery raises - and we are yet to answer." The star and planet system was discovered during an investigation of NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope (VLT). "In small clouds of dust and gas, it's hard to build a giant planet," said exoplanet scientist and study co-author Vincent Van Eylen of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory. "This is because to build a giant planet, you need to quickly build a large planet core and then quickly accrete (accumulate) a lot of gas on top of that core. But there's only so much time to do it before the star starts shining and the disk rapidly disappears. In small stars, we think there's simply not enough mass available to build a giant planet quickly enough before the disk disappears," Van Eylen added. How are planets formed? The formation process starts with the Giant Molecular Cloud, in which a giant cloud of gas and dust collapses under its own gravity. After that, the centre of the cloud becomes a protostar, which eventually becomes a star. Then a disk of gas and dust forms around the protostar. The small particles in the disk stick together, growing into larger bodies called planetesimals. Then the collision and merger of Planetesimals happen, forming larger planetary embryos. The embryos undergo differentiation, where heavier elements sink to the centre.
