The Quadrantid meteor shower is visible every year in early January, when Earth encounters debris of dust left behind by the asteroid 2003 EH1. The shower favors observers in the Northern Hemisphere. It is considered one of the best annual meteor showers, along with the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December.
Quadrantid meteor shower in 2027
Activity period: The Quadrantid meteor shower will be active from December 28, 2026, to January 12, 2027, and will peak on the night of January 3–4, 2027.
When to see: As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the Quadrantid radiant—the point from which the meteors appear to radiate—lies low in the north around 9:00 p.m. local time and reaches its highest point in the northeastern sky in the early morning. So the shower will be best visible during the pre-dawn hours on January 4, 2027, when the radiant climbs high in the sky.
Note for observers: The Quadrantid meteor shower has a very sharp peak, lasting only a few hours at most. Following the peak, activity rapidly declines to about half of its maximum value within four hours. As a result, some observers may miss the peak entirely, while others on a different continent could witness an excellent display.
In 2027, the predicted peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower will fall on January 4 at 03:30 UTC. This timing favors observers in Europe and western Asia.
Expected meteors during peak activity: The Quadrantids are one of the strongest meteor showers of the year, producing around 120 meteors per hour during peak activity under ideal conditions. However, due to the short length of peak activity, most observers can expect an hourly rate of about 25 meteors under a dark sky.
Moon phase during peak activity: In 2027, during the peak night, a thin waning crescent moon will rise a couple of hours before sunrise. As a result, moonlight will not interfere with the Quadrantids.
Where to look: Quadrantid meteors radiate from near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, a famous star pattern whose seven bright stars form a gigantic question mark in the sky. However, you don’t need to identify the Big Dipper in order to observe the shower.
The Quadrantid meteor shower will be visible across the sky during the pre-dawn hours, when the radiant climbs high in the sky.
View from the Southern Hemisphere: Southern Hemisphere observers will have to struggle to observe the shower, as its radiant never climbs much above the horizon.
How the shower got its name
The Quadrantid meteor shower got its name from the constellation Quadrans Muralis, where the shower’s radiant was located.
However, Quadrans Muralis is now an obsolete constellation, and the modern constellations Boötes and Draco have taken its place.
Now, the radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower is located in the constellation Boötes, which is why the shower is alternatively called the Bootids or Bootid meteor shower.
Parent of the Quadrantid meteor shower
Asteroid 2003 EH1 is the parent body of the Quadrantid meteor shower. It has a diameter of about 2.9 km and orbits the sun once every 5.5 years. It is believed to be a fragment of a larger comet.
The Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Survey (LONEOS) discovered the asteroid 2003 EH1 on March 6, 2003. Team member Peter Jenniskens compared its orbit with that of the Quadrantids meteoroid stream and found them to be similar. In December 2003, Jenniskens announced that 2003 EH1 is the parent body of the Quadrantids.
According to Jenniskens’ research, the shower is astronomically very young—perhaps only 500 years old. Around that time, in late 1490, a comet was recorded by observers in China, Japan, and Korea. In 1979, Ichiro Hasegawa suggested that the Comet of 1490 (C/1490 Y1) could be related to the Quadrantids. It is possible that the comet broke apart sometime before 1490, releasing the dust that we now see as Quadrantid meteors, with the asteroid 2003 EH1 being a fragment of that comet.
References
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