4.01.2022

Annual shower can produce more than 100 meteors an hour

If the clouds cooperate, you can start the year with a meteor shower. The Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak activity on or about 3 January each year. This year, the peak has been estimated to occur at about 10pm GMT, although this can vary by a day or so.

The shower produces meteors in the sky any time between 28 December and 12 January. It is known for creating blue meteors with occasional fireballs and under ideal conditions can produce more than 100 meteors an hour.

Yet, as fleeting as it is unpredictable, the peak is often over in a matter of hours. This year visibility is helped because the moon is new and will have set before the show starts, removing a source of illumination that masks the fainter meteors. To further enhance your chances, find the darkest sky you can and wrap up warm. Watching meteors is a waiting game.

The chart shows the view looking north-east from London at midnight GMT on Monday. Do not look directly at the radiant, instead look off to one side. The best view will be in the hours after midnight, before dawn. The Quadrantids are best seen from the northern hemisphere.

Quelle: The Guardian