2006 Quadrantids

[markj_87]

Will anyone be watching the 2006 Quadrantid meteor shower which is set to peak at around 1820UT on January 3rd?<br /><br />I certainly plan to, as the weather forecast is looking quite good for my area (northern Britain) tomorrow evening through to the morning. The peak isn't at the most favourable time, but I can still catch some meteors. How about you guys?

 

[harmonicaman]

More info.

 

[yanks1419]

Can you see the 2006 Quadrantid meteor shower in N.Y.?

 

[harmonicaman]

Yeah, NY should be good if you're in a dark area; can you get up to Bear Mountain? Best viewing after midnight. Moon phase is favorable this year!<br /><br /><br />QUADRANTIDS (Jan 3):<br /><br />Brief, intense maximum; good over less than one hemisphere in a given year. Northern latitudes heavily favored, radiant high declination and nights longer; but South better weather. Recent rates above 30/hr in southern Florida but near 70/hour in the North; both at favorable maxima. Over 100/hr hove been reported. Rates rise rapidly after 2 or 3 a.m. Medium-speed meteors with some trains. Little to see away from max night. <br /><br />

 

[markj_87]

I'll probably go out and have a look at the time of expected maximum (18:30UT), but the radiant point won't be particularly high in the sky then so I'm not expecting much. I'll go back out at midnight and stay there until dawn which is when I should see the most action.<br /><br />Just a note: Don't be too put off by the seemingly poor timing of the peak for Europeans and North Americans. Apparently, as described by the International Meteor Organisation, there is often a secondary peak about 9-12 after the primary one, which would occur at about 03:00-06:00UT, which is much more favourable for the 'Western Hemisphere'. This secondary peak has only really been detected by radio, but may well visually exist as well - I'll keep an eye out for it.

 

[yanks1419]

Around what time can i see it if I am in New York? 1p.m. or can i still see it at midnight?

 

[markj_87]

Well the problem with the Quadrantid shower is that the radiant (point in the sky from which the meteors appear to come from) doesn't gain very useful elevation until early morning. During the evening and early night, the radiant is near the horizon and so not only are the meteors actually further away, their light has to pass through more atmosphere to reach you, and so they appear dimmer. Although you might see some activity at those times, you might actually be best going out tonight and tomorrow morning. But as I said earlier, there might be a second peak a little later, in which case you might want to watch from about midnight tomorrow.

 

[hiddenmeteor]

it's been cloudy all week so i haven't been able to see any : (<br /><br />i am so incredibly depressed.<br /><br />it's the hidden meteors that you don't see...

 

[markj_87]

I only saw a few and they were very faint unfortunately. The weather wasn't quite as great as predicted, but I had a decent clear spell at about 2am so I had a look for about half an hour. They were quite hard to pick out, even with no moon, but I saw two with identical paths within about 10 seconds of each other, and then a couple more later on. The cloud rolled in soon after though.