The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks overnight from January 3 to January 4, hitting its peak hours between 3:00a.m. and 4:40 a.m. Eastern on January 3, 2022. During this peak there will be up to 110 meteors sailing through the sky per hour, and though they radiate from the northern sky, they will appear in all parts of the sky. You may be able to spot one of its fireballs anytime between December 26 to January 16 when the shower is active.
The Quadrantids are named for a constellation that no longer exists. Most meteor showers get their name from the constellations from which they appear to radiate, and so it is with the Quadrantids. But the Quadrantids’ constellation no longer exists, except in memory. The name Quadrantids comes from the constellation Quadrans Muralis. French astronomer Jerome Lalande created this constellation in 1795. This now-obsolete constellation was between the constellations of Boötes the Herdsman and Draco the Dragon.
How does a constellation become obsolete?
In 1839, two men, Adolphe Quetelet of Brussels Observatory in Belgium and Edward C. Herrick in Connecticut, independently suggested that the Quadrantids as an annual shower. Then, in 1922, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) created a list of the 88 modern constellations, and it did not include Quadrans Muralis.
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
unlocking your child's potential
Your Custom Text Here