Quadrantids Meteor Shower

A meteor streaks past stars during the annual quadrantid meteor shower in qingdao shandong province china jan.

Quadrantids meteor shower. The reason the peak is so short is due to the shower s thin stream of particles and the fact that the earth crosses the stream at a perpendicular angle. This is the one major shower that provides good activity prior to midnight as the constellation of gemini is well placed from 22 00 onward. They re the first meteor shower of the new year.

Asteroid 2003 eh 1. We ll have moon free skies during the predawn hours on january 4 for this year s peak expected late night january 3 until dawn. The geminids are often bright and intensely colored.

The geminids are usually the strongest meteor shower of the year and meteor enthusiasts are certain to circle december 13 and 14 on their calendars. Most meteor showers have a two day peak which makes catching sight of these other meteors much more possible. The quadrantids which peak during early january each year are considered to be one of the best annual meteor showers.

The quadrantids qua are a january meteor shower. Unlike other meteor showers that tend to stay at their peak for about two days the peak period of the quadrantids only lasts a few hours. At its peak it can produce about 120 shooting.

The quadrantids can be one of the strongest displays of the year yet they are difficult to observe. The zenithal hourly rate zhr of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich meteor showers the perseids in august and the geminids in december 4 yet quadrantid meteors are not seen as often as meteors in these other two showers because the peak intensity is exceedingly sharp sometimes lasting only hours. However they can produce fireballs with.

The main factor is that the display of strong activity only has a duration of about 6 hours. Every january the earth passes through a narrow stream of space dust during its orbit around the sun and this causes the quadrantid meteor shower. The quadrantids are usually active between the end of december and the second week of january and peak around january 3 4.