Meteor shower to kick off 2024 with fireballs, shooting stars

WASHINGTON: A new year of stargazing kicks off this week with a significant meteor shower peaking just a few days into 2024.

The Quadrantids meteor shower rambles along each year for several weeks in December and January, but it has a sharp and short-lived peak typically around the turning of the new year.

In 2024 the Quadrantids will hit maximum activity overnight on the night of January 3 into the pre-dawn hours of January 4, with the best meteor rates for North American viewers predicted between 1.00 am and 5.00 am, according to the American Meteor Society.

Despite being capable of producing 100-plus meteors per hour under optimal conditions, the Quadrantids shower can be overlooked because its peak is so brief – not to mention it falls during a time of year not always associated with spectacular stargazing weather. And with the moon about half full on this year’s peak night, some meteors may be washed out due to the extra light in the sky. But skywatchers under clear skies could still be treated to up to 20 meteors per hour and possibly even fireballs, which this shower is known for producing, the AMS says.

Commonly known as ‘shooting stars’, meteors are streaks of light in the sky that are created when meteoroids – fragments of asteroids or comets – come into contact with Earth’s atmosphere. Meteor showers typically happen when Earth passes through a large band of these space fragments, with the shower’s ‘peak’ happening when our planet is expected to encounter the greatest number of them. (Life)

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