From Space Weather:
FIRST METEOR SHOWER OF 2012: The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday morning, Jan. 4th, when Earth passes through a narrow stream of debris from a comet thought to have broken apart some 500 years ago. The shower is expected to be strong (as many as 100 meteors per hour), but elusive, with a peak that lasts no longer than a couple of hours. The shower’s radiant near Polaris favors observers in the northern hemisphere. Images, live audio from a meteor radar, and more information are available on today’s edition of http://spaceweather.com.
Polaris is, of course, the “North Star”. Pretty easy to find if the sky is clear!
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I am sure I am far enough north to see this, but as it is raining and sleeting here, I shall miss it. When we lived in Canada, we saw the best meteor showers as the cold air kept the moisture away. When one is experiencing less than zero Fahrenheit temperatures, the sky can be crystal clear. In Canada, the only problem was the sudden appearance of Northern Lights, obscuring the meteor showers. I hope those coming home from the caucus parties in Iowa will see some of this celestial show.
I will be up tomorrow morning working meteor scatter contacts on amateur radio. I haven’t actually seen a shower in quite a while, but don’t miss many sitting in my shack.
Cloudy here. Rats.
Too bad Fresno was fogged in!