Tuesday, January 1, 2013
When is the Quadrantid Meteor Shower? The opening of the 2013 show will begin overnight on Jan. 1. If there are clouds over St. Louis tonight, you can watch it on NASA.com.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is named for an extinct constellation, but the shooting stars that seem to sprout from it still arrive yearly, and the opening of the 2013 show will begin overnight Jan. 1 into Jan. 2. The Quadrantids is one of the lesser-known meteor showers of the year, but that doesn't mean it's anything less than spectacular. Take a look at this Quadrantids meteor shower video or these pictures of the Quadrantids. While the shower begins overnight on the first day of the new 2013 year, NASA tells us Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the wee morning hours of Jan. 4: "[T]he Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3 a.m. local time, leaving about …
Friday, December 28, 2012
When is the Quadrantids Meteor Shower? Take a peek at its peak on Jan. 3 in St. Louis. If there are clouds that night, you can watch it on NASA.com.
If you blink you might miss the Quadrantids Meteor Shower 2013. It peaks in the hours right before dawn on Jan. 3, with a maximum number of meteors per hour of about 80. The Quadrantids come from an asteroid called 2003 EH1, just as the Geminids did in early December. Meteor showers usually are named based on the constellations where they originate. Quadrans Muralis (mural quadrant) is located where Hercules, Bootes and Draco meet. 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 moon will set after midnight, so the best time to view the meteors will be between then and …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Shooting stars will be flying the night of Nov. 17 over Clayton and Richmond Heights—not as many as some past years—but it promises to be a show worth watching.
It's time again for one of the most noteworthy of the year's sky shows, the annual Leonids Meteor Shower, which in some years has been spectacular. This year, however, is predicted to be somewhat less so. The Leonids has been called, in some years, a "meteor storm" (rather than just a "shower"), but reports say this year will be limited to "at best 10 to 15 meteors per hour." The last Leonid storm, with thousands of shooting stars per hour, was in 2002. A report from MSNBC says there is a reason this year's display is a bit different: "Two peaks of activity, one on Saturday morning and another on Tuesday morning (Nov. 20)." Watch for the meteors to emanate from the constellation Leo (get it? Leonids?), from around 10 p.m. St. Louis time. …
Ryan Martin
10:50 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thanks, Kiwi! I didn't know that. Perfect. more ›