The Quadrantids have ideal visibility conditions throughout Russia
After the New Year, several interesting astronomical phenomena await the inhabitants of the earth. The press service of the Moscow Planetarium spoke about this.
At the planetarium they said:
On the night of January 3-4, the first New Year's starfall will rain down – At the peak of the Quadrantids meteor shower, up to 120 meteors per hour are expected, that's 1-2 meteors per minute in a clear sky! The best time for observations will be from midnight to dawn, when the radiant is highest above the eastern horizon.
The Quadrantids meteor shower is active from December 28 to January 12, and will reach its maximum activity on the night of January 3. The Quadrantid meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Wall Quadrant, which is not used in modern astronomy. Now the radiant of the stream is located under the handle of the Big Dipper in the constellation Bootes. But the name Quadrantids – left.
And although the Quadrantids have ideal visibility conditions throughout Russia, observation conditions in 2024 – not very favorable. The last quarter moon rises after midnight and will interfere with meteor sightings.
Meteor shower is best observed after midnight, since the radiant of the meteor shower gains sufficient height in the second half of the night. In order to see the celestial display, you need to look towards the northeastern horizon of the sky, which is where the Quadrantid radiant will be located. The best time for observations – from midnight until dawn, when the radiant is highest above the horizon.
In addition, on January 3, the Earth will be at perihelion, at its closest distance from the Sun, which will allow us to observe the largest disk of the Sun in 2024. On this day at 03:38 Moscow time, the Earth will be at a distance of 147,098,988 km from the Sun.