No one alive today remembers the last time Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) passed through our cosmic neighborhood. While this long-period comet hasn’t appeared in Earth’s skies for more than 160 years, we are quietly reminded of its existence every April as our planet passes through the debris it left behind, producing the annual Lyrid meteor shower. As Earth moves through this stream of dust and rocky fragments, those particles are pulled into our atmosphere at high speeds, burning up and creating … [Read more...] about April (Meteor) Showers: The Lyrids