June Lyrids

Beginning back in 1966 we had what briefly became a major meteor shower called the June Lyrids. The parent body producing the meteor stream has not been definitively identified. For several years the peak rates waxed and waned from a maximum count of 8 to 10 meteors per hour radiating out of the sky within a couple of degrees of the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. 

Normally you can almost observe that many sporadics (not associated with any meteor stream) in the same amount of time on any given night.

Then just as quickly as it had appeared, the June Lyrids vanished from our skies. Research has suggested that the Earth may no longer be intercepting the meteor stream. Though the June Lyrid meteors showed increased activity during 1996, lately they have proved disappointing.

However, there's always a chance the Earth might intercept the meteor stream once again.

The June Lyrids used to be faint blue meteors hitting our atmosphere at a moderately fast speed of 19.3 miles per second. Some of the bright ones left long persistent trains of dust behind as they disintegrated in our atmosphere. The Lyrid shower always had a sharp maximum of only a few hours wide, so don't give up observing too easily.