Strong Quadrantid Meteor Shower, One of 2012's Best, Peaks Wednesday (Right Now 3 AM Central)

http://www.space.com/ ^ | Date: 03 January 2012 Time: 08:06 AM ET | by Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist

[Yosemitest]

If you enjoy the sight of "shooting stars" then make plans to be out looking skyward during the predawn hours on Wednesday (Jan. 4) when a strong display of Quadrantid meteors may appear. This first meteor shower of the year may end up being one of the best of 2012.

To paraphrase Forrest Gump: The Quadrantid meteor shower is like opening up a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get! Indeed, the Quadrantids are notoriously unpredictable, but if any year promises a fine display, this could be it.

Peak activity is due to occur early on Wednesday at about 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 GMT) and favors eastern North America. The Quadrantid meteor shower sky map above shows where to look to see the display.

The Quadrantids (pronounced KWA-dran-tids) provides one of the most intense annual meteor showers, with a brief, sharp maximum lasting but a few hours. Adolphe Quetelet of Brussels Observatory discovered the shower in the 1830s, and shortly afterward it was noted by several other astronomers in Europe and America. [First Photos: The 2012 Quadrantid Meteor Shower]

The meteors are named after the obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis the Mural or Wall Quadrant (an astronomical instrument), depicted in some 19th-century star atlases roughly midway between the end of the Handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars marking the head of the constellation Draco. The International Astronomical Union phased out Quadrans Muralis in 1922. 

Always difficult to see

Unfortunately, many factors combine to make the peak of this display difficult to observe on a regular basis:

• Peak intensity is exceedingly sharp: meteor rates exceed one-half of their highest value for only about 6-hours (compared to two days for the August Perseids). This means that the stream of particles that produce this shower is a narrow one — apparently derived within the last 500 years from a small comet.
  
  The parentage of the Quadrantids had long been a mystery. Then Peter Jenniskens, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., noticed that the orbit of 2003 EH1 — a small asteroid discovered in March 2003 — ''falls snug in the shower.'' He believes that this 1.2-mile (2-kilometer) chunk of rock is the source of the Quadrantids; possibly this asteroid is the burnt out core of the lost comet C/1490 Y1.
• As viewed from mid-northern latitudes, we have to get up before dawn to see the Quadrantids at their best. This is because the radiant — that part of the sky from where the meteors to emanate — is down low on the northern horizon until about midnight, rising slowly higher as the night progresses. 
  
  The growing light of dawn ends meteor observing usually by around 7 a.m. local time. So, if the "Quads" are to be seen at all, some part of that 8-hour active period must fall between 2 and 7 a.m.
• In one out of every three years, bright moonlight spoils the view.
• Over northern latitudes, early January often sees inclement/unsettled weather.

It is not surprising then, that the Quadrantids are not as well-known as some of the other annual meteor showers, but 2012 may prove to be an exception. [12 Must-See Skywatching Events in 2012]  

Promising viewing prospects

According to Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society, maximum activity this year is expected on Wednesday morning, Jan. 4 at 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 GMT).

For those in the eastern United States, the radiant — that point in the sky from where the meteors will appear to emanate from — will be about one-third of the way up in the east-northeast sky. The farther to the north and east you go, the higher in the sky the radiant will be. To the south and west the radiant will be lower and the meteors will be fewer. 

Although the moon will be at a bright waxing gibbous phase, it will set by 3 a.m., leaving the sky dark for prospective meteor watchers until the first light of dawn appears at around 6 a.m.

Quadrantid meteors are described as bright and bluish with long silvery trains. Some years produce a mere handful, but for favorably placed observers, this could be a shower to remember; at greatest activity, according to Lunsford, "Eastern observers may be able to see 60-75 Quadrantids per hour." [Amazing meteor shower photos]

"If your skies are very clear and dark, allowing you to see faint meteors, your rates could top 100 per hour. Observers located in the western portions of North American will have lower rates but will also have the opportunity to see Quadrantid 'earthgrazers,'" Lunsford added. "Earthgrazers are meteors that skim the upper portion of the atmosphere therefore lasting much longer than normal and producing long trails in the sky. These meteors can only be seen when the radiant lies close to the horizon. As the radiant rises, the meteor paths will become shorter with shorter durations."

Outside of North America, Quadrantid rates could reach around 15-30 per hour for places north of the equator, but observers south of the equator will have little chance of seeing any "Quads" since the radiant will have little chance to clear the horizon before morning twilight interferes.

Don't forget to bundle up!

Finally, so far as weather conditions are concerned, a large high pressure system is expected to dominate the weather across much of the eastern United States and Canada for the peak of the shower meaning skies for these areas should be mainly clear for prospective meteor watchers.

However, it is also expected to be unseasonably cold (perhaps "unreasonably" is a better term to use!), with sub-zero readings possible over parts of upstate New York and New England with sub-freezing temperatures possible down into the Deep South. As one astronomer said prior to a mid-winter meteor watch: "Take the advice of a man whose teeth have chattered on many a winter's night — wrap up much more warmly than you think is necessary!"

You can also watch the Quadrantid meteor shower online via this NASA website: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/quadrantids_2012.html

[Yosemitest]

Go outside now and watch it.

[Prospero]

NASA Marshall (Huntsville) is live-streaming their all-sky camera, presently trained on one radiant, here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Watch

[Captain Beyond]

space ping

[cyn]

ping — beautiful clear skies in SE w/record cold

[Yosemitest]

Here's a better link NASA MSFC.

The 2012 Quadrantids, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with some late-night meteor watching.

Peaking in the wee morning hours of Jan. 4, the Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3 a.m. local time, leaving about two hours of excellent meteor observing before dawn. It's a good thing, too, because unlike the more famous Perseid and Geminid meteor showers, the Quadrantids only last a few hours -- it's the morning of Jan. 4, or nothing.

Like the Geminids, the Quadrantids originate from an asteroid, called 2003 EH1. Dynamical studies suggest that this body could very well be a piece of a comet which broke apart several centuries ago, and that the meteors you will see before dawn on Jan. 4 are the small debris from this fragmentation. After hundreds of years orbiting the sun, they will enter our atmosphere at 90,000 mph, burning up 50 miles above Earth's surface -- a fiery end to a long journey!

The Quadrantids derive their name from the constellation of Quadrans Muralis (mural quadrant), which was created by the French astronomer Jerome Lalande in 1795. Located between the constellations of Bootes and Draco, Quadrans represents an early astronomical instrument used to observe and plot stars. Even though the constellation is no longer recognized by astronomers, it was around long enough to give the meteor shower -- first seen in 1825 -- its name.

Given the location of the radiant -- northern tip of Bootes the Herdsman -- only northern hemisphere observers will be able to see Quadrantids.

[brooklin]

I got to see one. It was a beautiful long streak. About the only nice thing about getting out in the freezing cold and walking the dogs at 4:30.

[Yosemitest]

I went outside before I started this thread and counted 15 within 10 minutes.
But it sure is cold, 24.5 F.

[MAexile]

Tried to get some pictures. Darn near froze my a$$ off.
Went until all the batteries gave out, no idea if I got anything, I’ll have to check the data later. Saw some nice low and slow ones.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Went out, too cold for me @ 21 deg. F. Ended up just getting the paper.

[USARightSide]

Don’t miss it - bundle up - meteor showers are spectacular!

I go out every Aug. for the Perseids.
Some years are better than others.

[The_Media_never_lie]

I missed this one, getting light here. Will go for the next.

To really have a good sky, I have to drive about 10 minutes out of town. I caught a real meteor shower a few years ago after driving to the country, and I will never forget that one. It was in August with no moon. The tv news the next am reported it fizzled and did not meet expectations (when viewed within the city, lol). For me, it was the meteor shower of my lifetime. I saw at least a 100; fireballs, splitting meteors etc. Spent an hour observing, and this one event made all the no shows worthwhile.

[USARightSide]

‘I caught a real meteor shower a few years ago_________’

I should really get away from the street lights, etc., and go somewhere more dark.
And yet I have seen neat stuff both from back and front (small) yards, in Aug.

Like you said - one great meteor show can make the no-shows worthwhile.

All this going on overhead, and most are unaware!

Off to bed!

[hadaclueonce]

no show here in Texas.

Two no shows from Texas in one night.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Captain Beyond.

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[KoRn]

Is it just me, or does it seem that all of the coolest things like this happen at the most insane hours of the night. It can’t be at 9:30 or 10:00. It always has to be like an hour or two before Sunrise or something crazy.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Captain Beyond.

An ‘extra extra’ ping to the APoD list.

[bigheadfred]

I don’t know. I don’t think I want to see fireballs or the likes in the daytime sky. I’m not limber enough anymore to be able to kiss my ass goodbye.

[SunkenCiv]

Most nights one can lie out under the stars and observe incoming space debris; these showers are just a bit more frequent, at least one streak a minute. True storms of meteors have been observed from time to time, a few times a century, and the rates are perhaps four or five a minute. Even those are related to annual showers, and have from time to time seem to have been the swan song of some well-known ones.

There’s also the matter of the location of the Sun on visibility. The sky has to be quite dark to observe most streakers. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a daylight meteor, it was quite a display, during the summer of 2002. It was large enough to appear to be actually tumbling, and was throwing off pieces of itself. I never heard of any parts touching down, nor do I know the distance at the time (iow, whether it was picked up on radar), but I and the others present lost sight of it behind the nearby trees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrantids

[snip] The peak intensity is exceedingly sharp: the meteor rates exceed one-half of their highest value for only about 8 hours (compared to two days for the August Perseids). This means that the stream of particles that produces this shower is narrow — and apparently deriving from and within the last 500 years from some orbiting body.[1] The parent body of the Quadrantids was recently tentatively identified (in a paper by Peter Jenniskens) as the minor planet 2003 EH1, which in turn may be the same object as the comet C/1490 Y1 [2] which was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Korean astronomers 500 years ago. [snip]

[SunkenCiv]

;')

Rain of Iron and Ice
by John S. Lewis

On November 27,1919, a meteorite fell into Lake Michigan near the Michigan shore. "Residents of Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, South Bend, Grand Haven, and other Western Michigan cities fled from their homes in panic, fearing an earthquake. Houses were shaken, the country was illuminated as by a bright sun's rays, so all-enveloping it was impossible to tell from which direction the flare came, the earth trembled for half a moment and then came a deep prolonged rumbling as of a terrific explosion." (p 159)