|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
The Annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks Monday Night
By Jeff Kanipe
posted: 06:31 am ET
03 January 2000
|
skywatch2Monday, January 3 The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around 1 a.m., Eastern Time, January 4, or 10 p.m. Pacific Time, January 3. In other words, after midnight for those in the Eastern and Central times zones tonight. At its maximum, the shower has been known to produce as many as 250 meteors per hour, but I wouldn't expect to see that many, even in a dark sky. A more realistic number may fall between 15 and 30, fewer if you are observing from a suburban neighborhood. The shower's radiant is in the northern part of the constellation Boötes, which rises around 1:30, so observers along the east coast are favored. These meteors move at medium velocities (about 25 miles per second), are faint to very faint, and exhibit a distinct bluish color. Unlike other showers that are active for days or even weeks, the Quadrantids have a very sharp peak of activity lasting at most a few hours. With the moon near new phase and the peak happening in the late evening and early morning hours for observers in North America particularly in the eastern and central times zones, this is a shower not to miss. Jeff Kanipe is the author of A Skywatcher's Year, an astronomy guide just published by Cambridge University Press. He is a former editor at Astronomy and StarDate magazines and a writer for the Earth & Sky radio series.Reprints courtesy of Sienna Software, makers of Starry Night Pro software. For a free trial version of Starry Night contact Sienna Software.
|
|
|
|
|
