#Quadrantids Meteor Shower Light Up The Sky Tonight The Quadrantid meteor shower, which is the first meteor shower of 2015, peaks tonight, on 3 January at 9pm EST (4 January at 2am GMT) The Quadrantids get their name because they seem to radiate from Quadrans Muralis, an obsolete constellation that used to be located where the constellations Hercules, Boötes, and Draco meet in the sky. In order to locate them you have to look in the direction of Boötes constellation which does not attain a very high altitude for most Northern Hemisphere during this time of the year. The best observations are actually possible from countries with high northern latitudes, such as Canada, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The display is virtually nonexistent for observers in the Southern Hemisphere. Although the Quadrantid meteors can be as spectacular as the Perseids and the Geminids, they are not seen as often as meteors in these other two showers, because the peak intensity is exceedingly sharp, sometimes lasting only hours. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere can see from 10 to around 60 meteors per hour at maximum, but with the Moon being almost full, their light might be seriously obscured. The parent body of the Quadrantids was tentatively identified in 2003 by Peter Jenniskens as an extinct comet known as 2003 EH1, which is now in a highly inclined orbit, apparently due to a series of close encounters with Jupiter. This comet in turn may be related to the comet C/1490 Y1 that was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Korean astronomers some 500 years ago. There are other, weaker meteor showers going on around the same time as the Quadrantids. If you see a meteor and want to check if it is indeed a Quadrantid, mentally trace it backwards. If you end up where Hercules, Boötes, and Draco meet in the sky then you have probably seen a Quadrantid meteor!
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:31:15 +0000