The New Year is only a few days away and that means the year will start fresh with astronomical events. The sky will once again feature bright meteor showers when the Quadrantids kick in next week.
To start a brand new year, the sky will bring a show through the Quadrantid meteor shower, which will reach its peak on Jan. 4, 2016 at 8 a.m. UTC. The showers are usually described to be brief, lasting only a few hours, but are active.
The shower may vary in intensity and occasionally, the Quadrantids will bring 200 meteors per hour when seen from an appropriate spot. Generally, it's expected that there will be somewhere between 50 and 100 meteors per hour.
Earthsky.org stated that the Quadrantids are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere because the meteor's radiant point is far north of the sky. But this doesn't mean that people in different regions won't catch them. Looking above toward North should let observers spot the Quadrantids.
Although the Quadrantids shower is considered as one of the best meteor showers that happen annually alongside Perseids of August and Geminids of December, it is still less popular.
Since the cold winter air is pronounced in January, it would be difficult for an observer to stay up until after midnight at 1 a.m. to catch the start of the Quadrantids — unless one is determined to stay in the freezing outdoors.
Also, as mentioned, the Quadrantids will be around for only a brief moment, so it's easy to miss out on the bright meteors.
Nevertheless, those who are really determined to see the first meteor shower of the year should look up to the sky on Jan. 4. The waning crescent Moon will also cooperate, providing ideal viewing conditions.
Steam Boat Today advises observers looking at the Quadrantids to try to catch comet Catalina, which can be seen by the naked eye. The comet will be a small, green-colored ball that could show its short tail.
Comet Catalina will hover closest to Earth on Jan. 12, so the weeks prior will be the best opportunity to catch it.
