Nuts, I totally forgot about this: the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks tonight around 2:00 a.m. Eastern time. This is usually a good shower, producing 100 meteors per hour. The meteors appear to come from between the constellations of Draco and Bootes, which are in the northern sky (sorry Aussies!). The orbits of the particles intersects the Earth’s orbit at a sharp angle, so we pass through the meteoroid stream quickly. This means the shower peaks strongly, lasting usually only a few hours. The Moon won’t be up until very late, and won’t interfere with faint meteors, so this should be a good night to watch.
It’s cloudy here, and I am facing numerous scary deadlines, so I won’t be out tonight. But if you are, tell us what you saw in the comments!
