Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2013

Quadrantid Meteor Shower Credit: nasa.org

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower ushers in 2013 with its peak in the early hours of the 3rd of January.

The Quadrantids can be an impressive meteor shower with rates of up to 120 meteors per hour at its peak (under perfect conditions) and have been known to produce rates of up to 200 meteors per hour. The peak is quite narrow lasting only a few hours, however there will be plenty of meteors to look out for either side of maximum.

Meteor Shower

Due to a waning gibbous moon in the early hours of the 3rd (the best time to look) the more fainter meteors will be obscured, but there should be good chances of seeing some either side of the peak and in the small hours after midnight.

The radiant of the Quadrantids (where the meteors radiate/ originate from) is in the constellation of Boötes, however many people are mislead in thinking they need to look at the radiant to see the meteors – this is not true. Meteors will appear anywhere in the sky at random. You can trace the shooting stars path back to the radiant to confirm if it is a meteor from the meteor shower.

For more info on how to observe and enjoy the Quadrantid meteor shower, see the guide to observing meteors

Join in with the Quadrantid meteorwatch on twitter and follow the hashtag #meteorwatch to see all the tweets, images and info posted, If the sky is clear we will be in for a good show. Tell your friends, tell your family and tell everyone to lookup for the Quadrantid Meteor Shower.

If you want more info on meteor showers, browse this site or ask VirtualAstro on twitter. Stay posted for more guides and information if you plan to do some more stargazing in 2013 and beyond.

Credit: Shooting Star Wallpapers