(meteorobs) 2011 Quadrantids

meteors at comcast.net meteors at comcast.net
Sun Jan 2 11:03:35 EST 2011


Pay particular attention to this shower in 2011 if at all possible. The
Quadrantids have a very short period of maximum activity, so can be very
difficult to observe under conditions of moonless, clear skies. This
year the peak coincides with the time of New Moon, so if you find
yourself with clear skies, it is a nearly perfect time for the Quads!
In
most of North America, the radiant is circumpolar, but is best observed
after midnight local time when the radiant is higher in the sky.

The time of maximum listed in the table below is from data collected by
the International Meteor Organization. A different maximum has been
computed by Jeremie Vaubaillon indicating the peak could occur sometime
between 2100 UT on January 3 to 0600 UT on January 4. Only time will
tell, so my advice is to observe as much as possible.

Here is the data on this shower:

Active: December 28 – January 12
Maximum: January 4, 01h10m UT
ZHR = 120 (can vary ∼ 60–200);
Radiant: RA = 230o , DEC = +49o   or

All observations I receive will be archived and published on the website
of NAMN. If you are just starting out making meteor observations and
would like to have your observations published at the website, you need
to record the following information at a minimum:

* Observer’s name
* Location observation was made from
* Date of observation
* Length of observing session in minutes
* Number of Quadrantids seen during each observing session
* Number of other shower members, or sporadics, seen during each
observing session

Clear skies!

-- 
Mark Davis, South Carolina, USA
meteors at comcast.net
namn at namnmeteors.org

North American Meteor Network (NAMN)
http://www.namnmeteors.org/




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