The Quadrantid meteor shower should be at its best tonight. Unfortunately, \u201cbest\u201d doesn\u2019t mean great. That\u2019s because the last-quarter Moon gets in the way. It\u2019s in view during the expected peak hours, so its glare will wipe out all but the brightest meteors.
\nThe shower is named for an extinct constellation \u2013 the wall quadrant - an instrument that astronomers used for centuries to track the positions of stars. That region of the sky is in Bo\xf6tes the herdsman, near the handle of the Big Dipper.
\nThe Quadrantids appear to come from a trail of dust left by an asteroid or dead comet. As it orbits the Sun, it sheds bits of rock and dirt. Today, the parent body\u2019s orbit doesn\u2019t cross Earth\u2019s orbit. But it must have in the distant past. That left a trail of debris for Earth to pass through.
\nAs we cross the trail, some of the debris hits the atmosphere at about 90,000 miles per hour. The particles vaporize, forming the streaks of light known as meteors or shooting stars.
\nThe Quadrantids include quite a few \u201cfireballs\u201d \u2013 especially bright meteors that can explode. They\u2019re formed by larger bits of debris \u2013 the size of pebbles. They can be bright enough to see through the Moon\u2019s glare. And a few fireballs are usually seen for a few nights after the shower\u2019s peak.
\nLook for the meteors in the wee hours of the morning. You might see up to a few dozen of them \u2013 blazing bits of rock and dust high in the sky.
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Script by Damond Benningfield
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