How to watch the first big meteor shower of the year

Bright streaks of light are arranged to illuminate the sky, heralding the first celestial show of the year.

The Quadrantid meteor shower peaked on Friday, January 3, during the early hours before dawn, putting on a spectacular all-night show with at least 30 to 60 meteors per hour. This year’s Quadrantids have no interference from the light of the Moon, which guarantees a better viewing experience for one of the most popular meteor showers to grace our skies.

To take full advantage of the Quadrantids this year, the meteor shower is best viewed from the northern hemisphere, although it will still be visible across the sky, according to EarthSky. The meteor shower should be enjoyed from a poorly lit area, preferably away from city lights. You should be prepared for a long night that starts at the peak around 2 am and lasts until dawn.

Last year, sky watchers had some interference from the Moon, which was 51% full the night the Quadrantids peaked. This year, however, the meteor shower will coincide with a waxing moon, which will not interfere with the view of the streaked lights.

U Quadrantids are an annual rainfall which was first spotted in 1825. It is active from late December to mid-January. The meteor shower has a narrow peak window that lasts for a few hours each year because of its thin stream of particles and the angle at which Earth crosses the stream, according to NASA.

However, the meteor shower puts on quite a show during these few hours. Quadrantids are known for bright fireball meteors, which produce larger bursts of light and color that originate from larger particles of material.

Although most meteor showers originate from comets, the Quadrantids come from an asteroid. The space rock, known as Asteroid 2003 EH1, orbits the Sun every five and a half years. It is a relatively small asteroid, measuring about two miles (three kilometers) across, and may be a dead comet or a rock (an asteroid with an orbit similar to that of a comet).

The Radiant of the Quadrantids, or point in the sky from which the meteor shower appears to come from, is an obsolete constellation called Quadrans Muralis, according to NASA. French astronomer Jerome Lalande created the constellation in 1795, but it was scratched from the list of constellations recognized in 1922 by the International Astronomical Union.

The first meteor shower of the year launches a series of astronomical events that can be enjoyed by sky enthusiasts, including the four planets Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter that are visible during the first hours after sunset throughout the month of January