Ancient meteor shower to blaze across Vietnamese night sky

The Lyrids, active each year from around April 16 to 25, often bring an end to the "meteor drought," a period from January to mid-April when no meteor shower is observed for months. It is considered one of springtime’s most prominent meteor shower groups, according to astronomy news website Space.

The Lyrid meteor shower will become visible at night and would continue overnight. In Vietnam, it should be observable starting 9 p.m. Thursday night to 6 a.m. Friday, according to time and time zone website Time and Date.

Sky watchers should see up to 18 meteors an hour, it added.

Lyrids is one of the oldest known meteor showers, dating back 2,500 years. The source of the meteor shower is particles of dust shed by the long-period Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which orbits the sun once every 415 years.