Meteors

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...

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