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Strange lights in the night sky could be the Lyrid meteor shower or Elon Musk's new Space X project

An annual meteor shower will peak tomorrow night with shooting stars lighting up the night sky for six hours.

The Lyrid meteor shower should be visible in Kent between midnight and dawn if skies stay clear.

Medway Messenger reader Brian R. Obee took this picture on the night of the meteor shower in August, 2016
Medway Messenger reader Brian R. Obee took this picture on the night of the meteor shower in August, 2016

Meteors are chunks of debris which have broken away from celestial objects such as asteroids and comets. The Lyrid meteors have come from comet Thatcher, which last passed close to the sun in 1861.

When Earth comes into contact with the debris, its gravity sweeps up some of these objects and they pass into our atmosphere.

There are expected to be around 20 meteors every hour, so with skies clear of air travel and a crescent moon in the sky, the light show should appear even more spectacular.

To get the best view, NASA suggests being “prepared with a sleeping bag, blanket or garden chair. Lie flat on your back with your feet facing east and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible.”

Relax and let your eyes adjust to the night sky while you wait for the showers to pass by. The display will also be visible nearing the end of the month on April 30.

This won't be the only mysterious lights in the sky, onlookers in Europe and the UK were stunned to see a chain of star-like lights parading across the night sky this weekend.

These lights are part of Elon Musk's Space X programme, nicknamed Starlink.

The project aims to put thousands of small, low-orbit satellites above the Earth in order to improve internet service across the globe.

They are expected to be visible over the UK just before 10pm tonight.

To read more about astronomy and where to get advice during lockdown, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent

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