If you’re interested in art, you might want to know about the Quadrantid meteor shower which peaks on January 3rd. The shower is named after the constellation Quadrans Muralis, which can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere around midnight.
Tens of Quadrantid meteors per hour were seen over Japan in 2009 during peak activity.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is usually active between December 28 and January 10 with a peak around January 3rd. It is considered to be one of the most intense meteor showers of the year.
The Quadrantid meteor shower was first observed in 1825. Astronomers are still trying to determine where the meteoroids that generate this shower come from. It may be associated with comet 2003 EH1, which was discovered in 2003, or comet C/1490 Y1 and its parent body, asteroid 2003 EL61, both of which were discovered in 2001.
The Quadrantid meteors are called “Quads” for short. They often leave bright trails that last longer than those left by other meteors showers as they are more faint and made up of slow moving particles. This is because the radiant is near a very large star (in astronomical terms), so particles spend more time traversing the Earth
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on January 3rd. The Quadrantid meteor shower happens at the same time as the new moon and is one of the most active showers in the sky. This year will begin with an extra-bright super moon, so there will be no moonlight to interfere with viewing the meteor shower.
The Quadrantid meteor shower appears to radiate from a point near the North Star (which is nearly overhead for viewers in the northern hemisphere). The radiant of a meteor shower is not its source, but rather the point in the sky where its meteors appear to be coming from. The meteors are caused by dust particles left behind by a comet known as 2003 EH1.
When encountering a brand new source of data, I like to find out what it looks like when plotted. It gives me a feel for what kind of data it is and helps me decide what type of plot might work best.
I discovered that 2003 EH1 has been observed since 1825, which means that we have over 180 years’ worth of data on its orbit and activity.
Here’s a plot of all those observations:
Everyone has their own definition of art. Some people believe that because it’s subjective, there is no right or wrong answer. But I disagree with this philosophy. Some artists are more talented than others and are able to capture a subject in a way that is more appealing to the majority of people. An artist can make you feel a certain emotion in one painting that they can’t even come close to doing in another.
Going back thousands of years artists had to rely on natural light and things like candlelight. They also didn’t have as many colors available to them as we do today. With today’s technology and applications, I believe that there are endless possibilities for an artist to create something beautiful.
Treatments for art vary from artist to artist and are usually dependent on the style of the artist and the medium that’s being used. In this blog post I will be discussing how sky artists use the Quadrantid meteor shower and other celestial objects to enhance their artwork.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is peaking this morning. If you are in the right place, you will probably be able to see some. It peaks between 3 and 4AM EST on January 3rd. This year the new moon makes for dark skies, so that will help. I’ll be up at 2:30AM; it’s a short post-midnight shift for me tonight.
Trouble is, from my vantage point here in mid-northern latitudes, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to see of the Quadrantids tonight. The Moon is supposed to be setting at about 3AM, but it’s already been up for a couple of hours and there’s more than a little light pollution around here.
The Lyrids were better (March 22nd). It was a dark night with no moon and there was quite a flurry of activity around 6:30AM. I didn’t spot any falling stars; they’re really fast, but I did watch several streaks as they arced across the sky at a pretty steep angle. You don’t have to see one fall to enjoy meteor showers; they’re fun to watch while they’re still in space — just streaking by overhead. All of the bright ones leave
Quadrantid Meteor Shower is the most active meteor shower of the year. It has a peak that is set to occur on January 3rd and it will bring about up to 120 meteors an hour according to NASA. The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is named for the constellation Quadrans Muralis, which was later renamed as Bootes.
Travelling at an average speed of 37 miles per second, a Quadrantid meteor will leave a smokey trail in its wake that can last several seconds. There are typically over 100 meteors per hour during the peak and they are known for appearing in bunches or streaks that last longer than those of other showers.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is said to be created by dust particles left behind by comet 2003 EH1. This particular comet hasn’t been seen since 2003 but scientists believe that it passes by Earth every four years and leaves behind a little bit of itself each time it comes around.*
The Quadrantid meteor shower occurs every year between January 1st and 3rd. The meteor shower is visible in the southern hemisphere as well as northern hemisphere.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is one of the most interesting meteor showers to observe because it contains a large number of bright meteors. The peak is between January 2nd and 3rd, with about 40-60 meteors per hour.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is best seen from the northern hemisphere from the middle latitudes such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Russia and Japan. Unfortunately for observers in the southern hemisphere, this impressive meteor shower can only be seen from Antarctica or Australia.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is known for being quite unpredictable. In years when there are many particles in space that can cause meteors to appear, we see an impressive display of meteors. However, if there are few particles in space then we see little activity from this meteor shower.
The Quadrantid Meteor Shower gets its name from early astronomers who noticed that the radiant point of this shower appears to originate from a constellation called Bootes which means “the herdsman”. Bootes was originally a constellation that represented a herdsman who lived on earth but was placed among the stars by
This weekend is the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower, which will be visible in North America, Europe and Russia. While most meteor showers are the result of Earth’s passage through debris from comets or asteroids, the Quadrantid is produced by debris from an extinct comet known as 2003 EH1.
Taken separately, these events are great opportunities to observe rare celestial phenomena. Combined, they offer a unique opportunity to see what happens when art intersects with science.
The Quadrantid meteor shower gets its name from the constellation that appears to send out the meteors: Quadrans Muralis.
Quadrans Muralis was a big constellation for northern hemisphere observers until 1822 when, after some debate about its shape, it was divided into two parts: Bootes and Hercules. Bootes was not considered an important constellation because it contained no bright stars and had no myths associated with it (the convention has changed somewhat since then). It remains unclaimed by modern astronomy and has no universally agreed upon location in the sky.
In spite of the Quadrantid meteors’ association with this obscure constellation, there is a story that explains how they got their name. According to Greek legend, Zeus took his lover Callisto (who was
