Today:
Not only is Orion lowering into the west more and more with each passing evening, but the Milky Way is also dropping nearer the horizon. Its faint light makes it difficult to see near the horizon through the thicker part of the atmosphere, and it will remain obscure in the evenings until summer. For a summer preview, you can see the Milky Way rising in the wee hours of the morning, from 2 o’clock until dawn’s twilight.
Sunday:
The steely blue star rising in the north-northeast, low but due northeast at 9:45 PM, is Vega, from the German “Wega”, and from the Arabic “Al Wika”, the “swooping or diving eagle”. In modern times it is the brightest star in Lyra, the Lyre, a harp-like instrument, home to the meteor showers over the next few nights.
Monday:
Tonight comes the expected peak of the Lyrid Meteor Shower. Look to the northeast around 10 PM. To the right of the bright star Vega, the Lyrids will be concentrated between the constellations Lyra and Hercules, and will lift high in the eastern sky. An average of 10 to 20 “shooting stars” is best viewed after midnight, until a waning Crescent rises, one-third illuminated, near 3 o’clock.