Y2K Meteor Burst
| Tweet |  |
Space Science News home
Y2K Meteor Blast
The Quadrantids, one of the year's most intense and
least observed meteor showers, peaks on January 4, 2000.
December 28,
1999: If you're the type of person who enjoys a bit of arctic
chill on a winter night, then the 2000 Quadrantid meteor shower
could be for you.
Right: Artist Duane Hilton's concept
of a Quadrantid fireball streaking through the winter sky above
the White Mountain Range in central California.
The shower stretches from Dec. 28, 1999 to Jan. 7, 2000, with
a sharp maximum on Jan. 4 at 0530 UT
(00:30 EST) when as many as 200 shooting stars per hour might
be seen. The peak occurs just two days before the phase of the
Moon is new. That means the sky will be dark, and viewing conditions
should be excellent. No matter where you live, the best time
to watch will be between midnight and 6 am local time on the
morning of January 4.
Despite the fact that the Quadrantids make up one of the year's
most intense meteor showers, they are also among the least observed.
Why? One reason is the weather. The shower's radiant is located
high in the Northern sky, so the Quadrantids are visible mainly
to observers in the Northern hemisphere where the weather is
cold and often stormy in January. After a series of summertime
and autumnal meteor showers like the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids,
many sky watchers have seen plenty of meteors by the time the
Quadrantids arrive. Who can blame them for lingering by the comforts
of the hearth while the shower rages outside? 
Left:
Quadrantids observed in 1995 by members of the International
Meteor Organization. More
information.
The situation is almost certainly exacerbated by the brevity
of the shower's peak, which usually lasts just a few hours. Even
dedicated meteor observers are likely to miss such a sharp maximum
simply because they live at the wrong longitude. In his classic
book Meteor Astronomy, Prof. A.C.B. Lovell lamented that
"useful counts of the Quadrantid rate were made in 24 Januaries
out of a possible 68 between 1860 and 1927. ... The maximum rate
during this period appears to have occurred in 1932 (80 per hour)
although the results are influenced by unfavorable weather."
With observations in such short supply, it's no wonder that many
basic questions about the Quadrantids remain unanswered. For
example, What is the source of the Quadrantid meteors? No one
knows.
Most meteor showers are caused by comets. When a comet passes
close to the sun, bits of dust and ice boil away from its nucleus
and form a stream of tiny particles, called meteoroids, that
orbit the sun. A meteor shower results when Earth passes through
the debris stream.
 Sign up for our EXPRESS SCIENCE NEWS delivery |
Quadrantid meteroids are in a highly elliptical orbit tilted about 70 degrees from the plane of the solar system. Some astronomers have speculated that the parent comet was captured or disrupted by Jupiter's gravity thousands of years ago, and that the Quadrantid meteoroids are the leftovers from that ancient celestial collision. Advocates of this idea believe that the original comet was orbiting the Sun nearly in the plane of the solar system. Since its disruption, the orbit of the debris stream evolved to its present state because of periodic gravitational perturbations from Jupiter.
Other scientists argue that the source of the Quadrantids could be an existing comet or asteroid that has yet to be discovered. If this is true, then we might expect to see outbursts of Quadrantid meteors during years when the parent comet is nearby, just as the well-known Leonid meteors are especially intense around the time that their parent comet, Tempel-Tuttle, passes close to Earth. In this regard, amateur observations of the Quadrantids could prove especially valuable to professional astronomers who would like to know when to look for the source of the meteors. If you're interested in observing the Quadrantids and reporting your data to NASA, please visit Quadrantids.com for details. Web Links
Leonids, Live! -site of the live webcast of the 1999 Leonids
Geminids.com -news, video and audio from this December's Geminid meteor shower, from NASA
Perseids, Live! -sights and sounds from the 1999 Perseid meteor shower
The Quadrantids - authoritative information about the Quadrantids from Gary Kronk's Comets & Meteor Showers web site.
North American Meteor Network - home page, featuring observing tips for beginners and information about meteor showers throughout the year.
Join our growing
list of subscribers - sign
up for our express news delivery and you will receive
a mail message every time we post a new story!!!
Headlinesreturn to Space Science News Home
|
For more information, please contact: Dr. John M. Horack , Director of Science Communications |
Author: Dr.
Tony Phillips Curator: Bryan Walls NASA Official: M. Frank Rose |