How to Watch the First Big Meteor Shower of the Year

Bright streaks of light are set to light up the sky, ushering in the first celestial spectacle of the year

The quadruple meteor shower will put on a spectacular show throughout the night, with at least 30 to 60 meteors per hour in the early morning hours of Friday, January 3. This year’s Quadrantids will not be interfered with by moonlight, guaranteeing a better viewing experience for one of the most popular meteor showers to grace our skies.

To fully enjoy the Quadrantids this year, the meteor shower is best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, although it will still be visible across the entire sky. EarthSky. Meteor showers should be enjoyed from a poorly lit area, preferably away from city lights. You should be prepared for a long night as it starts peaking around 2 am and lasts till dawn.

Last year, sky watchers had some interference from the Moon, the night the Quadrantids were 51% full at peak. This year, however, the meteor shower will coincide with a waxing crescent moon, which won’t interfere with the view of the streaking lights.

D Quadrantids are an annual shower It was first seen in 1825. It is active from late December to mid-January. Meteor showers have a narrow peak window that lasts a few hours each year due to the thin stream of particles and the angle at which the stream crosses Earth. NASA.

Nevertheless, during these few hours the meteor shower is quite visible. Quadrantids are known for bright fireball meteors, which produce large bursts of light and color that originate from large particles of material.

Although most meteor showers originate from comets, the Quadrantids come from an asteroid. The space rock, known as asteroid 2003 EH1, orbits the Sun once every five and a half years. It is a relatively small asteroid, measuring about two miles (three kilometers) across, and may be a dead comet or a rocky comet (an asteroid with an orbit similar to that of a comet).

The Quadrantids’ halo, or point in the sky from which the meteor shower can be seen, is an irregular constellation called Quadrans Muralis, according to NASA. French astronomer Jerome Lalande created the constellation in 1795, but it was removed from the list of constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union in 1922.

The first meteor shower of the year kicks off a series of astronomical events that can be enjoyed by sky enthusiasts, including the four planets Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter visible in the first few hours after sunset in January.