Jan. 2 — One of the coolest and quickest meteor bursts of the year is due to hit its peak over North America early Wednesday. Skywatchers are hoping to see scores of shooting stars during a two-hour peak period.
THE QUADRANTID meteor shower, which hits its peak annually on Jan. 3 or 4, appears to radiate from a region of the sky between the Big Dipper and the constellation Hercules. Under optimal viewing conditions, observers could see 50 or more meteors an hour — which would put the Quadrantids in a league with major showers such as August’s Perseids, November’s Leonids and December’s Geminids.
“It could actually reach 100 an hour, and that’s pretty conservative, to be honest,” Robert Lunsford, secretary-general of the International Meteor Organization, told MSNBC.com via cellular phone from his vantage point in California’s Mojave Desert.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/510724.asp
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-Administrator / Owner
"Everything was true. God was an astronaut. Oz really is over the
rainbow. ...and Midian is where the monsters live." -Nightbreed
THE QUADRANTID meteor shower, which hits its peak annually on Jan. 3 or 4, appears to radiate from a region of the sky between the Big Dipper and the constellation Hercules. Under optimal viewing conditions, observers could see 50 or more meteors an hour — which would put the Quadrantids in a league with major showers such as August’s Perseids, November’s Leonids and December’s Geminids.
“It could actually reach 100 an hour, and that’s pretty conservative, to be honest,” Robert Lunsford, secretary-general of the International Meteor Organization, told MSNBC.com via cellular phone from his vantage point in California’s Mojave Desert.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/510724.asp
------------------
-Administrator / Owner
"Everything was true. God was an astronaut. Oz really is over the
rainbow. ...and Midian is where the monsters live." -Nightbreed