Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2019

Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2019

Where:
Frosty Drew Observatory
When:
Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Cost:
$5 Suggested Donation per Person

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is one of the best (if not the best) meteor shower of the year. Quadrantid Meteors are bright with a greenish hue, many of which are fireball meteors. This year the skies are setting us up for an awesome night of meteor observation with practically no Moon until the 2% waning crescent rises at dawn. This will set us up for super dark skies and excellent meteor viewing all night long. The Quadrantid shower is a quite lively producing upwards of 120 meteors per hour during the peak.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower has a very brief peak period, lasting only 3-6 hours in duration. Timings of the peak period have a significant impact on how awesome the shower will be. The radiant point of the shower, the defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis, is located in between the handle of the big dipper and the constellation Bootes. This region of the sky sits on the north horizon at 8:00 pm for our location, and will ride the NNE horizon until about 9:30 pm. The higher in the sky the radiant point the better the shower. This year, peak period predictions place the height of the meteor shower at around 9:00 pm, with the shower wrapping up around 1:00 am. This is not perfect, but is good enough to catch about half of the expected meteor rates, and having no Moon during this period, increases that likelihood.

We will open the Observatory at 8:00 p.m. with views of the night sky including the Orion Nebula, and Comet 46P/Wirtanen. As meteors become more frequent we will close the Observatory 16" telescope and have everybody setup outside to watch the peak of the meteor shower.

Temperatures will be cold so be sure to dress warm! Winter coats, long johns, thick socks, hat, gloves, good winter shoes, and blankets (while observing meteors) are a necessity. Be sure to bring a blanket to lay on or a reclining chair for optimal meteor observation.

Take a minute to read up on visiting the Frosty Drew Observatory and catch up on what to / not to bring and how to adequately prepare for a comfortable nigh of meteor watching.

Please note that we do not allow any white lights on our campus from dusk - dawn. This is to ensure an equally awesome view of the night sky for all as well as to allow for the use of light sensitive astronomical equipment. Learn more about why we have this requirement in The Red Light District

Grab those binoculars, dust off that telescope, and join us under the beautiful dark skies at Frosty Drew Observatory and kick off the year with the Quadrantids!