First Meteor Shower -- 2021 -- Quadrantids (N. America)

Source: EarthSky dot-org / / / /  Date is Jan. 3, 2021

 The Quadrantid meteor shower is 2021’s first major meteor shower. Unfortunately, a bright waning gibbous moon will light up the sky on the expected peak night from late night January 2 until dawn January 3. Although the Quadrantids have been known to produce some 50-100 meteors in a dark sky, their peak is extremely narrow, time-wise. Peaks of the Perseid or Geminid meteor showers persist for a day or more, allowing all time zones around the world to enjoy a good display of Perseids or Geminids. But the Quadrantids’ peak lasts only a few hours. So you have to be on the right part of Earth – preferably with the radiant high in your sky – in order to experience the peak of the Quadrantids. What’s more, the shower favors the Northern Hemisphere because its radiant point is so far north on the sky’s dome.

So you need some luck to see the Quadrantids, and being in the Northern Hemisphere does help. Who will see the 2021 shower? Keep in mind the prediction of the Quadrantid peak represents an educated guess, not an ironclad guarantee. The Quadrantids are capable of producing some bright fireballs, so you might catch a few meteors in spite of the moonlight.

The radiant point of the Quadrantid shower makes an approximate right angle with the Big Dipper and the bright star Arcturus. If you trace the paths of the Quadrantid meteors backward, they appear to radiate from this point on the starry sky.

Now for our usual caveat. You don’t need to find the meteor shower radiant to see the Quadrantid meteors.

You just have to be at mid-northern or far-northern latitudes, up in the wee hours of the morning, and hope the peak comes at just the right time to your part of the world.

The meteors will radiate from the northern sky, but appear in all parts of the sky.