Quandrantid Meteor Shower for 2010

The Quadrantid Meteor shower kicks of the new year, peaking during the early morning hours of January 3. The Quadrantids are known to have a very sharp peak, with only a couple of hours of activity. It is best to try to get out and observe them near their peak. Unlike most other meteor showers, you do not see many Quadrandtids in the nights leading up to the peak.

The Quardantid meteor shower generally produces about 100 meteors per hour, but you will have a tough time seeing such a high rate if you live in the United States. The peak is expected sometime around 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET on January 3.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is thought to be caused by debris from a near-Earth asteroid called 2003 EH1. From its name, you can see that this asteroid was discovered quite recently. For a long time there was a little bit of mystery surrounding the cause of the Quadrantid Meteor shower. It was not until 2003, that this asteroid was discovered by Peter Jenniskens that the link between the asteroid and the shower was established.

Asteroid 2003 EH1 is most likely an extinct comet, no longer possessing any ice. A comet has a limited supply of ice, and if it has made many passes near the sun, it will eventually lose all of its ice. The extinct comet will be made up of a conglomerated rocky substance.

The Quadrantids are named after a constellation that was created in 1795 by Joseph Jerome le Francais de La Lande. The constellation Quadrans Muralis traces as a mural quadrant which is was used to plot the stars in the sky. The constellation is not longer printed as a constellation on modern star charts. The Quadrantids meteor showers allow its legacy to live on. Look to where Hercules, Bootes, and Draco meet in the sky, along the eastern horizon after midnight.

If you think you have a lucky shot at seeing one of these meteors, then look toward the east at Bootes during the early morning hours of January 3rd 2010. If you are on the East Coast of the United States, you can also try for the early evening hours on January 3rd to catch the tail end of the showers.

Moonrise will occur several hours after sunset on the evening of January 3rd. You will want to be out stargazing for these meteors before the moon rises on the night of January 3rd. The moon will be nearing its last quarter, but will still be plenty bright enough to wash out any of these meteors once it rises.