Astronauts will be able to catch a glimpse of the Quadrantid meteor shower this weekend, which illuminates the sky with up to 200 shooting stars every hour.
The annual meteor shower runs every year between 28 December and 12 January, but in 2021 the best views in the UK will be in the dark on 2 and 3 January.
Quadrantids are known to produce between 50 and 200 meteors per hour on a clear night and are described by NASA as one of the best annual meteor showers.
Meteorites are pieces of rocky debris that enter the Earth’s atmosphere at up to 40 miles per second, leaving streaks of light that we call “shooting stars.”
Quadrantids in the Great Khingan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, January 4, 2019
Quadrantids are especially known for their bright “fireball” meteors that leave large bursts of light and color that persist longer than average meteorite streaks.
This is because fireballs originate from larger particles of material, according to NASA.
Most meteor showers have a two-day peak, but the Quadrantids have a six-hour “peak” window.
“The reason the peak is so short is because of the thin flow of particles in the shower and the fact that the Earth crosses the stream at a perpendicular angle,” says NASA.
Quadrantids are best seen in the northern hemisphere because their radiant point (the point at which a meteor appears to originate) lies north of the sky’s dome.
The easiest way to find the shower is to look north towards the Big Dipper. Then follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle across the sky to the red giant star Arcturus, which anchors the bottom of the constellation Bootes, where meteor shower will appear.
A meteorite scratches beyond stars during the annual quadrantid meteor shower in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on January 4, 2014
According to the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the peak is expected to occur around 14:30 GMT on Sunday 3 January.
But exactly when it will reach its peak, it is often difficult to predict.
“This prediction is not based,” Robert Lunsford, a longtime meteorite observer at the American Meteor Society, told Space.com earlier.
‘We don’t have it nailed yet. He acts the way he wants.
If the IMO estimate is correct, the people of North America, especially on the west coast and Pacific islands, will get the best view this year because of the time zone.
This is because quadrantids are best visualized at night and hours before dawn.
Still, people in Europe may still be able to see it over the weekend, as long as the weather is clear.
Quadrantid meteor shower in the Great Khingan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China
According to the IMO estimate, the Quadrantids could provide Europeans with worthy visions from both Saturday night to Sunday morning and from Sunday night to Monday morning.
“The enthusiastic observer should head to the nights on either side: January 2-3 (as meteor shower accumulates) or January 3-4 (as it decreases)” , said Tania de Sales Marques, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
However, the waning Moon gibbous will be awake for most of the night, “constituting a source of bright light in the sky that will make it difficult to detect meteors,” he said.
According to NASA, quadrantids reward the patient with the most stars.
“To see the Quadrantids, find an area away from city lights or streets,” the space agency says.
Come prepared for the winter weather with a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair.
Lie on your back with your feet to the northeast and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible.
“In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adjust and you will start to see meteors.
“Be patient: the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse.”
The easiest way to find the shower is to look north towards the Big Dipper, the distinctive group of seven bright stars and a useful navigation tool.
Landscape of quadrantid meteor showers in the Great Khingan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, January 4, 2019
Then follow the “arc” of the handle of the Big Dipper through the sky to the red giant star Arcturus, which anchors the bottom of the constellation Bootes, where meteor shower will appear.
The Quadrantids derive from their name in the constellation Quadrans Muralis – mural quadrant, which was created by the French astronomer Jerome Lalande in 1795.
They originate from a small asteroid, called 2003 EH1, with a diameter of only three kilometers in diameter.
2003 EH1 was discovered on March 6, 2003 by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search (LONEOS).
The asteroid takes an impressive 5.52 years to orbit the Sun.
Studies suggest that this body could be a piece of a comet that broke several centuries ago.