Eyes to the sky: The Quadrantids, also known as the first major meteor shower of the year, will offer gorgeous views this weekend.
The starry spectacle, which will be active until Jan. 10, will peak on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 3:20 a.m. ET, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS).
On the big night, the moon will be 58 percent full and skywatchers can expect to see an average of 25 meteors per hour. These meteors don’t have elaborate trains, however, they sometimes create bright fireballs in the sky.
The AMS notes that the Quadrantids aren’t always easy to spot, due to the short length of maximum activity (six hours) and not-so-great weather in January. Despite these conditions, skywatchers can observe the meteor shower from an area that’s not affected by city lights. Skywatchers in the southern hemisphere will not be able to see the illuminated show because of high northerly declination (celestial latitude).
Keep your eyes peeled for the first meteor shower of the decade! 🔭
The Quadrantids are peaking overnight (January 3 to 4) with up to 120 meteors appearing per hour!
Photo: Donovan Shortey pic.twitter.com/mLmDAIqaM4
— CanadianSpaceAgency (@csa_asc) January 3, 2020
The Quadrantids come from a “rock comet” instead of an icy comet, which isn’t the norm for most meteor showers, CNN noted. The source asteroid, which is named 2003 EH1, takes 5.52 years to complete one trip around the sun.
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