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Quadrantids
Meteor shower

The Quadrantids (QUA) are a meteor shower that peaks in early January and whose radiant lies in the constellation Boötes. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich meteor showers, the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December, yet Quadrantid meteors are not seen as often as those of the two other showers because the time frame of the peak is exceedingly narrow, sometimes lasting only hours. Moreover, the meteors are quite faint, with mean apparent magnitudes between 3.0 and 6.0.

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Observations and associations

The meteor rates exceed one-half of their highest value for only about eight hours (compared to two days for the August Perseids), which means that the stream of particles that produces this shower is narrow, and apparently deriving within the last 500 years from some orbiting body.2 The parent body of the Quadrantids was tentatively identified in 2003 by Peter Jenniskens3 as the minor planet 2003 EH1, which in turn may be related to the comet C/1490 Y14 that was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Korean astronomers some 500 years ago.

The radiant point of this shower is at the northern edge of the constellation Boötes, not far from the Big Dipper. It lies between the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars marking the head of the constellation Draco.5 This meteor shower is best seen in the northern hemisphere, but it can be seen partly to 50 degrees south latitude.6

The name comes from Quadrans Muralis, a former constellation created in 1795 by the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande that included portions of Boötes and Draco. In early January 1825, Antonio Brucalassi in Italy reported that “the atmosphere was traversed by a multitude of the luminous bodies known by the name of falling stars.”7 They appeared to radiate from Quadrans Muralis. In 1839, Adolphe Quetelet of Brussels Observatory in Belgium and Edward C. Herrick in Connecticut8 independently made the suggestion that the Quadrantids are an annual shower.9

In 1922, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) devised a list of 88 modern constellations. The list was agreed upon by the IAU at its inaugural general assembly held in Rome in May 1922.10 It did not include a constellation Quadrans Muralis. The IAU officially adopted this list in 1930,11 but this meteor shower still retains the name Quadrantids, for the original and now-obsolete constellation.

YearQuadrantids active duringPeak of showerZHRmax
2008Jan. 1–5Jan. 48212
2009Jan. 1–5Jan. 314613
2010Waning gibbous Moon14 (full Moon on Dec. 31)15
2011Dec. 28 – Jan. 12Jan. 39016
2012Dec. 28 – Jan. 12Jan. 48317
2013Jan. 3 Waning gibbous Moon (full Moon on Dec. 28)181371920
2014Jan. 4 Main peak with ZHRmax=245 between Jan. 3 17:00 UT and 22:30 UT; isolated brief spike of ZHRmax=315 Jan. 4 at 18:00 UT31521
2015Waxing gibbous Moon (full Moon on Jan. 5)22
2016Jan. 3 at 14 UT 23 (15 CET/9 EST)
2017Jan. 3 at 15 UT 24 (16 CET/10 EST)
2018Jan. 3 at 19 UT 25 (20 CET/14 EST)
2019Jan. 4 at 2 UT 26 (21 EST on Jan. 3)
2020Jan. 4 at 4 UT 27 (23 EST on Jan. 3)
2021
2022
2023
2024Jan. 4 at 9 - 15 UT 28
2025Jan. 3 at 15 UT 29

See also

References

  1. "Does the published meteor rate for a shower really represent what I should expect to see?". American Meteor Society. Retrieved 2012-12-29. http://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-faq/#7 ↩

  2. "Stellar Meteor Shower Jan. 3". Space.com. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/081219-ns-meteor-shower.html ↩

  3. Peter Jenniskens (Dec 8, 2003). "2003 EH1 is the Quadrantid shower parent comet". The Ephemeris (San Jose Astronomical Association newsletter). Retrieved 2004-12-17. /wiki/Peter_Jenniskens ↩

  4. Jenniskens, Peter (2004). "2003 EH1 Is the Quadrantid Shower Parent Comet". The Astronomical Journal. 127 (5): 3018–3022. Bibcode:2004AJ....127.3018J. doi:10.1086/383213. /wiki/Peter_Jenniskens ↩

  5. "Stellar Meteor Shower Jan. 3". Space.com. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/081219-ns-meteor-shower.html ↩

  6. "Quadrantid meteor shower". NASA Meteor Watch on Facebook. 2012-12-26. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2012-12-29. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/335587379833828/459549254104306 ↩

  7. "Quadrantids". meteorshowersonline.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2012-12-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20130106011722/http://meteorshowersonline.com/quadrantids.html ↩

  8. Herrick, Edward Claudius (December 24, 1834). "Shooting Stars of December 7, 1838". The American Journal of Science. Vol. 35. New Haven, Kline Geology Laboratory, Yale University. (published 1839). pp. 365–366. https://archive.org/details/mobot31753002152137/page/365/mode/2up?view=theater ↩

  9. "Everything you need to know: Quadrantid meteor shower". EarthSky. Retrieved 2012-12-29. http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-quadrantid-meteor-shower ↩

  10. "The IAU list of the 88 constellations and their abbreviations". ianridpath.com. Retrieved 2012-12-29. http://www.ianridpath.com/iaulist1.htm ↩

  11. "IAU and the 88 Constellations". iau.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29. http://www.iau.org/public/constellations/ ↩

  12. Quadrantids 2008: visual data quicklook Archived 2013-02-02 at the Wayback Machine http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2008/ ↩

  13. Quadrantids 2009: visual data quicklook Archived 2013-02-02 at the Wayback Machine http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2009/ ↩

  14. IMO Meteor Shower Calendar 2010: January to March http://www.imo.net/calendar/2010#janmar ↩

  15. "U.S. Naval Observatory Phases of the Moon 2009". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230922/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_moonphases.pl?year=2009 ↩

  16. Quadrantids 2011: visual data quicklook https://web.archive.org/web/20110109102117/http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2011/ ↩

  17. Quadrantids 2012: visual data quicklook Archived 2012-12-25 at the Wayback Machine http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2012/ ↩

  18. "U.S. Naval Observatory Phases of the Moon 2012". Archived from the original on 2012-04-14. Retrieved 2012-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20120414230357/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_moonphases.pl?year=2012 ↩

  19. Quadrantids 2013: visual data quicklook Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2013/ ↩

  20. 2013 Quadrantid Shower Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine (Chris L Peterson @ Cloudbait Observatory) http://www.cloudbait.com/science/quadrantid2013.html ↩

  21. Quadrantids 2014: visual data quicklook Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine http://www.imo.net/live/quadrantids2014/ ↩

  22. "Moon Phase on January 4, 2015". Moongiant. https://www.moongiant.com/phase/01/04/2015/ ↩

  23. "IMO Meteor Shower Calendar" (PDF). International Meteor Organization. http://www.imo.net/files/meteor-shower/cal2017.pdf ↩

  24. "Quadrantid meteors on January 3 or 4". 2 January 2020. http://earthsky.org/tonight/quadrantid-meteor-shower-before-dawn-in-early-january ↩

  25. "When and Where to See the Quadrantids in 2018". https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/quadrantids.html ↩

  26. McClure, Bruce. "Dark Skies for 2019 Quadrantid meteors". Earthsky. Retrieved 2018-11-16. https://earthsky.org/?p=155137 ↩

  27. "Quadrantids Meteor Shower 2020". Bashewa. Bronberg Weather Station. Retrieved 2019-12-30. https://www.bashewa.com/wxmeteor-showers.php?shower=Quadrantids&year=2020 ↩

  28. "What's up in space". Spaceweather.com. Retrieved 2024-12-30. https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?day=04&month=01&year=2024&view=view ↩

  29. "2025 Meteor Shower Calendar" (PDF). imo.net. International Meteor Organization. Retrieved 2024-12-30. https://imo.net/files/meteor-shower/cal2025.pdf ↩