2019 Quadrantids meteor shower

2019 starts out with a bang! What can be the best meteor shower of the year peaks Thursday night! The peak of this shower produces similar rates to what we see during the Perseids and Geminids (more than 100 per hour.) But, the peak of the Quadrantids lasts only a few hours.

Experts from the International Meteor Orginization predict the absolute peak of the shower will occur around 9 p.m. EST Thursday night. Therefore, this shower favors Europe a bit more than the U.S. The shower is best viewed after midnight when the radiant is most directly overhead. If you can see the handle of the Big Dipper, you should be able to see meteors.

To view the shower, you want to give yourself at least 45 minutes to an hour. Don't worry too much about the radiant (besides the fact it has risen above the horizon) look at as much of the sky as possible. I like to lie in a lounge chair.

The moon won't be an issue. The shower peak occurs one day before the new moon! The only problem with this shower is the weather, it’s January in the Northern Hemisphere. Here is the outlook for cloud cover.

This shower favors Europe. So, here is the outlook there.

Good luck hunting meteors! There will not be another significant meteor shower until the Lyrids in April and Aquarids in May. In the meantime, check out some other awesome astronomy events this year.

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