These earthly godfathers of Heaven's lights, that give a name to every fixed star, have no more profit of their shining nights than those that walk and know not what they are.

— William Shakespeare

Quadrantids

By Kevin at Tue, 01/01/2013 - 3:14pm


The Quadtrantid Meteor Shower comes to a peak this week - morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 3. 

Despite some online hype of this event, it is not going to be a good view for us. The peak comes at around 8:00 am local time - during broad daylight so we'll miss it. To make matters worse the gibbous Moon is in the sky during the early morning hours. Bright moonlight and light pollution will wipe out all but the brightest meteors.

By all means, go outside on Thursday morning - between 1:00 am and dawn. Doesn't matter which way you face, meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but try to face away from the Moon or find something (building or tree) to block the Moon. You may spot some nice bright ones but don't expect a big show.