Meteor Showers

The Quadrantids Meteor Shower – January 3rd & 4th 2012

January 2, 2012

The Quadrantids, one of the three best meteor showers of the year, reach their peak with an zenithal hourly rate of 120 meteors per hour.

The first major shower of 2012 is the Quadrantids meteor shower. This annual shower has one of the highest predicted hourly rates of all the major showers, and is comparable to the two of the most lively, the August Perseids and the December Geminids. This celestial event is active from December 28th through January 12th and peaks on the morning of January 4th. The Quadrantids are well known for producing fireballs,high hourly rates and meteors that are exceptionally bright. These meteors can also, at times, generate persistent trails. This year, the large, bright waning gibbous Moon (72% full) will...

Geminid Meteor Shower Dec. 13th – 14th 2011

December 12, 2011

By Michael Muracco

A Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in 2009. Credit: Wally Pacholka / AstroPics.com / TWAN.

This month Earth will pass through the Geminid debris stream, producing as many as 120 meteors per hour over dark-sky sites. The best time to look is probably between local midnight and sunrise on Tuesday, Dec. 14th, when the Moon is low and the constellation Gemini is high overhead, spitting bright Geminids across a sparkling starry sky. The Geminid’s are the most intense meteor shower of the year. They lasts for days, are rich in fireballs, and can be seen from almost any point on Earth. Most meteor showers come from comets, which spew ample meteoroids for a night of...

Quadrantids Meteor Shower Will Light Up The Winter Sky

January 31, 2011

By admin

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower is one of the year’s best. In 2011, this shower will be especially good because it reaches its peak the evening of January 3, within 8 hours of New Moon. So, not only will you see bright meteors easily, but you’ll also count quite a few fainter “shooting stars.” The predicted peak for the Quadrantids will be around 8 p.m. EST January 3. New Moon occurs at 4:03 a.m. EST January 4, so no distracting moonlight will pollute the sky. To see the Quadrantids all you need is a clear dark sky as far...

Spectacular Meteor Shower to Dazzle December Sky

January 31, 2011

By admin

On the evening of 13 and the morning of 14 December, skywatchers across the northern hemisphere will be looking up as the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak, in one of the best night sky events of the year. And unlike many astronomical phenomena, meteors are best seen without a telescope (and are perfectly safe to watch). At its peak and in a clear, dark sky up to 100 ‘shooting stars’ or meteors may be visible each hour. Meteors are the result of small particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, burning up and super-heating the air around...

Draconid Meteor Shower Oct. 8th

January 31, 2011

By admin

Every year around Oct. 8th, Earth passes through a minefield of dusty debris from Comet Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower. This year, forecasters expect Earth to narrowly miss several of the debris streams, resulting in no appreciable display for 2010. Next year, however, could be different. On Oct. 8, 2011, (see SkyWatch), Earth will have a nearly head-on collision with a tendril of dust, setting off a strong outburst of as many as 750 meteors per hour. One year from now, sky watchers could see the strongest meteor shower since the Leonid storms a decade ago....