Quadrantids Meteor Shower: New Year's Light Show
When is the Quadrantids Meteor Shower? If you don't pay attention, you may miss this New Year's light show!
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What a way to ring in the New Year. The Quadrantids Meteor Shower 2013 peaks on Jan. 2-3.
The Quadrantids come from an asteroid called 2003 EH1, just as the Geminids did in early December. Expect to see about 80 meteors per hour.
Tips for best viewing of the meteor shower
The meteor shower is expected to "last only a few hours," according to NASA.com. That means you should look for it in the the night of Jan. 2-3, not the night of Jan. 3-4. The best time to view the meteors is between 3 a.m. and dawn.
Earthsky.org reports the Quadrantids peak might be in the hours just before dawn on Jan. 3.
"Face the general direction of north-northeast, but take in as wide an expanse of sky as possible. Watch from about 2 a.m. until dawn," Earthsky writes.
If there is cloud cover iin Gulfport, you can watch a Ustream feed of the meteor shower on Jan. 2-4 on NASA.com.
The beach is always a nice spot, away from the lights of the city. Do you have a favorite place to watch shooting stars?
Rick
11:37 am on Monday, December 31, 2012
You say the best time is at night but then you say to look for it at 7:50 a.m. Which is p.m. or a.m.?
Linda Hersey
1:25 pm on Monday, December 31, 2012
Hi Rick: The best time is between 3 a.m. and dawn. That was a mistake in the article, which has been corrected. Thanks for pointing it out!