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(meteorobs) Re: What next?

Stephanie,

Yes, you are correct in the fact that not too many folks will venture
out on December 22 during a full moon to view the Ursids. The shower is
a bit weak to begin with and with a full moon you would be lucky to see
5 an hour. I just so happens to fall on my day off so I may give it a
try if the sky is transparent and I achieve a limiting magnitude of at
least +5.0

As for the January 3 shower it's called the Quadrantids, named after a
defunct constellation called Murals Quadrant. Since the radiant is
actually located in northern Bootes some observers call this display the
January Bootids. The display is short but intense. Most years will offer
only 25-50 meteors per hour at best. My personal best is 104 per hour. 

The weather at this time of year is usually quite cloudy and cold and
not many observers are able to see the display. It also takes a hardy
soul to go out into the cold to only see 25 meteors an hour. All these
factors make this shower much less of a draw and therefore getting less
publicity when compared to the Perseids, Leonids, or Geminids. 

Normally this shower peaks in intensity on the morning of January 3.
This year the predicted time of maximum activity is 0500 Universal Time
on January 4. This is midnight EST on January 4 and late evening on
January 3 for all US times zones to the west.

For those located on the east coast I would start watching as soon as
10pm on Monday evening January 3. Although the radiant will be very low
there should be some impressive "earthgrazers" from this shower
especially if rates are in excess of 100/hr over Europe. I plan to start
watching as soon as the radiant is at altitude -5 degrees. This will
occur at 9pm on the 3rd for my location in the Mojave Desert. This will
be the exact time of the predicted maximum activity.

This shower is one of the least studied major annual showers. ANY
observations can help increase our knowledge of the Quadrantids.

Bob Lunsford
AMS Visual Coordinator 


Stephanie Hobrock wrote:
> 
> I realize that there is a shower on Dec.22, but I imagine the full moon
> will interfere pretty much. Can anyone tell me anything about the Jan. 3
> showers as of yet? Any charts that I look at are saying they are an
> excellent chance to view. I would like to try to do it correctly this time
> with two observers and a recorder.  Will there be any activities like there
> were with the Geminids and Leonids? Why aren't there a dozen articles and
> sites on the internet for these in January? Thanks ahead of time.
> Stephanie
> 
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