Monday January 3 - Tuesday January 4: Quadrantid Meteor Showers



Location: Quadrantid Meteor Shower
(courtesy: Astronomy.com)
double-click for larger pic


Monday night into Tuesday morning you can expect our first Astronomical event of the year - the Quadrantid Meteor Showers.  For those of us on the East Coast of the United States, the viewing time is expected to be good Monday between 6 pm and midnight (with the peak occurring at 8 pm EST).


As I've previously posted, for those of us in the Northeastern United States were quite unlucky for the two astronomical events that occurred in December (The Geminids and the total lunar eclipse) due to severe cloud cover.  According to weather reports (as of this posting) it is going to be clear on Monday night with a clouds lingering in late with a chance of flurries - we are hoping that the forecast will remain clear, and that cloud cover occurs after midnight. 

The Quadrantid Showers are highly anticipated because are expected to see 100 meteors per hour because the meteors radiate low on the horizon. The shower will likely have several bursts of meteors occurring in rapid succession with lulls that could last as long as 7 to 10 minutes in length.  These showers are generally seen as bluish flashes with long grey tails, although they can be green and red if they interact with certain gases in the atmosphere.

Also, note that viewing location will be important since the meteors will be fairly low to the horizon (note the illustration above).  Constellations points are the end of the Big Dipper's Handle (Ursa Major) and the Head of Draco the Dragon (the two peering eyes in the sky).

The Quads were first recorded as being viewed by Italian Astronomer Antonio Brucalassi on January 2, 1825.  According to The Day Newspaper: "The first sign that the activity was annual came in 1839, when Adolphe Quetelet of the Brussels Observatory in Belgium and astronomer Edward C. Herrick of Connecticut independently suggested it."

Here is a link to video of the 2010 Quadrantid Meteor Shower.

Dress warmly and happy viewing!

The original blog article can found at my blog Random Selection which can be viewed at http://www.randsel.blogspot.com/