Due to the relative lack of meteor showers in the first month of each year, the first week’s quadrant often lures avid shooting star spotters outside. They delivered the show some skywatchers wanted on Tuesday night and Wednesday night.
December is jam-packed with opportunities to catch the Geminid and Ursid meteor showers in abundance, but the only major shower in the first quarter of this year was the Quadrantids, which hit this Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. peaked temporarily.
like Gemini When UrushidAlthough the Quadrant is often one of the strongest showers of the year, these meteors aren’t as exaggerated as the northern summer Perseus in August, a time of summer vacation for many skywatchers. Also, the window of opportunity to see the Quadrantids is very narrow, peaking at only six hours of intense activity this year. American Meteor Society.
Other showers may have peaks lasting a day or two, and a few days before and after the actual peak, with less activity, but still a significant increase.
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To catch quadrantids, there are two factors to consider. The time at which the shower peaks at a particular location and the height of the quadrant of the night sky where Quadrantid meteors appear to occur.
Predicting the exact moment of peak meteor shower activity is not guaranteed, but the target range for this year’s peak viewing time is 3:40 AM to 6:40 AM UTC on January 4th ( It was between 7:40pm and 10:40am. Tuesday afternoon PT). That said, the region of the sky where the quadrant radiates outward is in the region of the constellation of Taurus the Cowherd, and this radiance was highest in the sky between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time. .
Where these two windows overlap in the northern hemisphere is the best place to observe quadrants on Earth. This week it looked like just about anywhere in or near the North Atlantic.
Projections required about 25 quadrants per hour under ideal conditions, such as many shooting stars and fireballs. A lucky explosion of Quadrantids producing up to 120 meteors per hour was also possible, according to some projections.
by Wednesday evening International Meteor Radio Observation Project Already reported detections of up to 120 meteors per hour, but few of us have been able to see all of this with the naked eye, largely thanks to the Moon being 92% full last night.
What you actually see as a quadrant meteor traverses the sky is its debris, or pebble-sized debris. Asteroid 2003 EH1, Some astronomers believe this is either an extinct comet or a new type of object sometimes called a “rock comet.” For centuries, EH1 has left a trail of debris in its path, and our planet passes through that stream of debris every January.
In case you missed it, mark your calendar for the next big meteor shower. Unfortunately, that doesn’t last until he’s active with the Lyrids in late April.
