How to watch the first big meteor shower of the year

Brilliant streaks of light are set to light up the sky, heralding the first celestial spectacle of the year.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is scheduled to peak on Friday, January 3, during the early hours before dawn, putting on a spectacular display throughout the night with at least 30 to 60 meteors per hour. This year’s quadrangles will not experience any interference from moonlight, ensuring a better viewing experience for one of the most famous meteor showers to grace our skies.

To fully enjoy the Quadrantids this year, the meteor shower is best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, although they will still be visible across the entire sky, according to EarthSky. Meteor showers should be enjoyed in a poorly lit area, preferably far from city lights. You should be prepared for a long night as the peak starts around 2am and lasts until dawn.

Last year, skygazers encountered some interference from the Moon, which was 51% full on the night the quadrangles peaked. However, this year’s meteor shower will coincide with the appearance of the crescent moon, which will not interfere with seeing the bright lights.

the Quadrantids are an annual shower It was first spotted in 1825. It is active from late December until mid-January. The meteor shower has a narrow peak window lasting a few hours each year due to its thin stream of particles and the angle at which Earth crosses the stream, according to NASA.

However, the meteor shower highlights the show during those few hours. Quadrantids are known as bright fireball meteors, which produce larger explosions of light and color that originate from larger particles of material.

Although most meteor showers originate from comets, quadrilaterals come from an asteroid. The space rock, known as asteroid 2003 EH1, orbits the sun once every five and a half years. It is a relatively small asteroid, about two miles (three kilometers) across, and may be a dead comet or a rocky comet (an asteroid with a comet-like orbit).

The radiant Quadrantids, or the point in the sky where meteor showers seem to come from, is an ancient constellation called Quadrans Muralis, according to NASA. French astronomer Jerome Lalande established the constellation in 1795, but it was struck from the list of recognized constellations in 1922 by the International Astronomical Union.

The first meteor shower of the year kicks off a series of astronomical events that sky lovers can enjoy, including the appearance of the four planets Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter during the first two hours after sunset throughout January.