The Lyrid meteor shower streaks through the sky Adventure_Photo/Getty Images The Lyrid meteor shower hits its peak on the evening of 22 April, or early hours of the 23rd, but you can look for them any time between the 16th and 25th. New Scientist‘s stargazing companion will talk you through what to look for. You can find the audio below or in the podcast episode feed for The world, the universe and us. Meteors are caused by high-speed debris from space hitting Earth’s atmosphere. These tiny grains of dust or rock enter the atmosphere at such speeds that the friction between them and the air makes them burn up, producing a flash that moves across the sky.  As Earth makes its yearly journey around the sun, it passes through a series of clouds of dust and debris, left behind by comets or asteroids, causing an increase in the number of meteors we see. This is why the same meteor showers happen at similar times each year. The Lyrids meteor shower is caused by the …