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(meteorobs) Meteor activity for the Week of January 1-7
This week will be dominated by the Quadrantid meteor shower. While this
display can provide very high rates for some, most observers will
witness 25-50 Quadrantids per hour from rural locations on Tuesday
morning January 4. This shower has a sharp peak lasting only a few hours
at best. The radiant is located at 15:20 +49, which places it in
Northern Bootes near the borders of the constellations Hercules and
Draco. This part of the sky lies low in the northwest at dusk and
reaches its lowest point in the sky near 8pm local time. After hugging
the northeast horizon during the late evening hours the radiant finally
begins to gain altitude after midnight and climbs high into the
northeastern sky during the late morning. Trying to see any Quadrantid
activity before midnight would probably prove futile unless you happen
to live in the higher northern latitudes found in Canada or Northern
Europe, where the radiant remains well above the horizon the entire
night.
This year's display is predicted to reach maximum activity near 5:00
Universal Time which corresponds to midnight EST and 9pm (January 3)
PST. European observers will have the radiant high in their morning
skies while those of us on the east coast of North America will have the
radiant low in the northeast. Regardless of your location, I would
suggest commencing any Quadrantid watch at midnight and watching as long
as possible. To see the most activity it would be wise to face at least
half way up in the sky anywhere from due north to due east, whichever
direction offers the darkest skies. The moon will be a very thin
crescent and will not interfere with observing as it rises just before
dawn.
Worthwhile activity from the Quadrantids is limited to the night of
maximum activity. The nights before and after maximum activity offer
only 1-2 shower members per hour while the remainder of the activity
period (January 2-6) offers perhaps only 1-2 shower members per night.
While watching the Quadrantids you may notice an occasional slow meteor
making its way out of the high western sky. Most likely, these meteors
would belong to the Delta Cancrid radiant. This radiant is currently
located in eastern Gemini approximately 5 degrees south of the bright
star Pollux. This radiant is in the sky most of the night but best
placed for viewing near 1am when it lies highest above the horizon. The
average rates from this shower are only 1-2 per hour but this includes a
high frequency of fireball activity.
The Coma Berenicid activity continues this week with the radiant lying
in southern Coma Berenices near the position 12:32 +19. This position is
approximately 30 degrees from the Quadrantid radiant so the two showers
will seem to do battle with the Coma Berenicids being badly outnumbered
on the 4th, but holding their own on other nights.
Observers south of the equator are now enjoying summer and also a rise
in their meteor activity. There are many showers active throughout the
first quarter of the year with high southerly declinations which are
difficult if not impossible to view from the Northern Hemisphere. The
first of these showers is the Delta Velids which peak on January 5. It
has a radiant at 8:20 -47 which is just north of the "false cross". It
is best placed for viewing between 1 and 2am local time. Recent
observations from Australia place the ZHR for this shower near 2, so it
definitely is not spectacular, but rather like the rates of the other
minor showers active this time of year.
Happy New Year and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous year 2000!
Bob Lunsford
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