The meteor shower is expected to start on Sunday night, January 3rd and extends into the early morning hours of Monday morning, January 4th. Some astronomers think that this asteroid is really a piece of an old, “extinct” comet; perhaps a comet that was recorded by Chinese, Korean, and Japanese observers during the years 1490-91.
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Like most meteor showers, the Quadrantids were named for a constellation that gives them their radiant, but unlike the Perseids or the Leonids, its constellation is now obsolete. The next window to catch the show is only scheduled next year.
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The Quadrantids’ performances in the past suggest that the meteor shower would exhibit 50-75 meteoroids per hour, a count that may go up to 100 provided the sky is exceptionally clear and dark.
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An advice to the skygazers is to be more precise with the timing of the Quadrantids shower, which will peak only about two hours averaging 120 meteors per hour.
The first meteor shower of 2016 will peak January 3-4 with the Southeast in a prime viewing spot.
How to watch: The Quadrantid meteor shower is best viewed in the North Hemisphere – if the forecast is correct, according to EarthSky.
The Quadrantids, which peak during early-January each year, are considered to be one of the best annual meteor showers.
NASA predicts that there should be about 80 meteors per hour and they will be traveling relatively slow for meteors, at about 25.5 miles per second. Unlike other meteor showers, though, they’re not the result of debris from an ordinary comet burning up in the atmosphere. A waxing crescent moon could intrude some on this shower. It was almost full and lit up the sky all night long like a celestial spotlight, obscuring all but the brightest shower members. In addition, the meteors have longer trails.
You wait and you wait for meteors to appear. Therefore, make sure you’re warm and comfortable. Instead, the interstellar debris that we see as a meteor shower comes from a mysterious and relatively newly-discovered object, 2003 EHI. If the clouds or cold hinder your effort, you can turn to the Canary Islands to watch the show. Warm cocoa or coffee can take the edge off the chill, as well as provide a slight stimulus.
Sky watchers have something important to look forward to this weekend – the Quadrantid meteor shower.
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Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium.
