Originally Posted on Dark Sky Diary by Steve Owens @darkskyman on twitter

Quadrantid Meteor

On the night of 03/04 January 2012 the first meteor shower of the year will take place, the Quadrantids. This shower ranks as one of the best performers of the year, assuming your skies aren’t clouded, as they so often are in winter. If the peak of this shower occurs under ideal conditions – i.e. perfectly clear skies, free from light pollution – then you can expect to see in excess of 100 meteors every hour. The peak for this shower is very brief though, so you’ll have to catch just the right conditions at just the right time to see a display this good. This year’s peak is estimated to occur just before dawn on 04 January 2012.

Not only do you have the weather to contend with, but this year the waxing gibbous Moon will be up for much of the night. However the Moon sets at around 0415, giving you a couple of hours before the sky starts to brighten before sunrise. Given that the peak of this shower will probably occur within this short window, things are looking pretty good for this year’s display.

Last year’s graph of meteor activity shows how sharp the peak is, so you probably won’t see many Quadrantids on the nights either side of the peak, but it’s worth a look if you have clear dark skies. ZHR for this year may be anywhere between 60 and 200.

Quadrantids Activity from 2011, credit imo.net

How best to view the Quadrantids 2012

1. Get somewhere as far from street lights and city glow as possible, preferably somewhere really dark, like your nearest national park or one of the UK’s dark sky places: Galloway Forest Park, Sark or Exmoor.
2. Go out at the right time, which for this year’s shower is between around 0400 and 0700 GMT.
3. You don’t need binoculars or a telescope, your eyes are best for viewing meteors.
4. Wrap up warm, as if you have clear skies (which you’ll be hoping for) it will be very cold in these early morning hours.
5. Bring a reclining deck chair so you don’t have to stand all night, and a blanket to wrap yourself in!
6. Although the radiant of the meteor shower (the point where the meteors will appear to stream from) is high in the E around 0400 you don’t need to worry about facing in any particular direction, just position yourself so that you can see as much sky as possible, and enjoy the view!

You can follow the progress of the meteor shower at meteorwatch.org, or on twitter via @VirtualAstro and the #meteorwatch hashtag.

If you want to make more serious observations of this shower you can submit them to either the International Meteor Organisation, the British Astronomical Association, or the Society for Popular Astronomy.