Astro-Observer

Meteor showers

Eta Lyrid Meteor Shower

By Astro-Observer · Last reviewed November 8, 2026

Active
May 3 – May 14
Peak
Around May 10–11
Peak rate (ZHR)
3
Radiant
Lyra (19h 24m, +43°)
Speed
43 km/s (medium)
Parent comet
C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock)
Best seen from
Northern Hemisphere
Best time
All night, best after midnight

Next peaks

Expected peak (UTC)Moon at peakMoonlight
May 11, 2027, around 6h Waxing crescent, 29% lit Little or none
May 10, 2028, around 12h Waning gibbous, 96% lit Bright Moon

Computed from the shower's peak solar longitude (λ☉ 50°). Real peaks can come a few hours early or late, and you will see meteors on the nights either side. The peak hour may be in daylight where you are; watch the darkest hours of the nearest night.

The Eta Lyrids are a weak May shower with a radiant near Vega. Their parent made one of the closest passes by Earth of any comet on record.

Where the meteors come from

The parent is Comet C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock). It was found in April 1983 in data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), and reported at about the same time by two amateur astronomers, Genichi Araki of Japan and G. E. D. Alcock of Britain. In May 1983 it passed about 5 million km from Earth, roughly 12 times the distance of the Moon.

When to watch

The shower is active from about May 3 to 14, with a maximum around May 11. The table above shows the expected peak and the Moon. From mid-northern latitudes the radiant is already up in the northeast when it gets dark and climbs to nearly overhead before dawn, so the hours after midnight are best.

How to find the radiant

The radiant is in Lyra, close to its border with Cygnus. Find Vega, the brilliant star in the northeast after dark in May, and Deneb, lower and to its left. The radiant lies almost on the line between them, a little less than halfway from Vega, about a fist's width at arm's length from it. From the Southern Hemisphere the radiant stays low in the north.

What to expect

IMO gives a ZHR of 3. Even with the radiant high, expect one or two meteors an hour from a dark rural site and essentially none from the suburbs. At 43 km/s these are medium-speed meteors, and a population index of 3.0 means most are faint. IMO cautions that it takes care to separate real Eta Lyrids from the random background meteors.

Viewing tips

  • Choose the darkest site you can reach, since most of these meteors are faint.
  • Watch after midnight, when the radiant is high.
  • Trace each meteor back toward the area between Vega and Deneb before counting it.
  • Expect long gaps between shower meteors, and plan to watch for at least an hour.

History and notable displays

The Eta Lyrids are a minor shower mainly followed by experienced observers and video networks. Video data define the radiant and the time of maximum, and visual observations from 2007 to 2021 give an average peak ZHR of 3 to 4.

About the numbers. The ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) is how many meteors one observer would see in an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant straight overhead. Real counts are almost always lower: under suburban skies, or with the radiant low, expect a half to a quarter of it, or less.

Sources

Checked November 8, 2026.