Quadrantids Meteor Shower – Jan 3rd/4th
http://www.dearastronomer.com/
Tonight/Tomorrow mark the start of the 2011 Meteor Shower season!
The Quadrantids originate near the constellation Bootes (to the left of Bootes), and if you are wondering why the Quadrantids name doesn’t match up with it’s “originating” constellation, it’s because the old constellation Quadrans Muralis, was removed from sky maps early last century.
Peak Activity for the Quadrantids is between about 3:00PM (EST) Today, and 1:00 AM (EST) tomorrow (Jan 4th) morning. The image below shows the night sky on the morning of Jan 4th at 2:00AM (MST) when Bootes is low in the Northeast. Even though it will be past “peak hours”, you may see better activity in the pre-dawn hours (an hour or two before sunrise) when Bootes is higher in the sky.
With this meteor shower occurring during the middle of winter, often times the weather is uncooperative, either due to clouds or cold weather (or both). So make sure to dress appropriately for your local weather conditions!
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:05:31
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/01/03/quadrantids-meteor-shower-jan-3rd4th/
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