Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks TONIGHT with up to 80 shooting stars per hour – here’s how to see the first celestial display of 2025

The New Year’s fireworks may be over, but another dazzling display will light up the sky tonight.

Tonight the Quadrantids Meteor Shower will reach its dazzling peak – and you won’t want to miss it.

The first celestial display of 2025 will unleash up to 80 shooting stars every hour at its peak.

Known for bright ‘fireball’ meteors with a striking blue color, making it one of the most spectacular events of the year.

Although shooting stars will be visible until January 12, the best time to see the shower is from sunset tonight until the early hours of tomorrow.

Because the moon is less than half full, avid sky watchers should be treated to dark skies that make it easy to spot the incoming meteors.

Dr. However, Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society, warns that the Quadrantids have a ‘very sharp peak in a few hours’ time.

Here’s what you need to know to make sure you get the best view of the first meteor shower of the year.

How to see the Quadrantid meteor shower

The Quadrantids Meteor Shower will peak today between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM GMT.

With the sun setting just after 4pm tonight, many British stargazers are likely to miss the most active shower.

In a video explaining how to watch tonight’s event, Dr. Massey says: ‘They have quite a strong intensity if you happen to be in the right place at the right time.

“If you’re on the west coast of the US or in the Pacific Ocean, you might see 70 to 80 an hour. If you are in Britain you will see a little less. But it remains a heavy shower.’

Although most Quadrantid meteors are not very bright, the shower does contain an exceptionally high number of ‘fireballs’.

Dr. Massey says: ‘A fireball sounds dramatic, but what it really means is a very bright meteor. The Quadrantids is a meteor shower that causes these types of events.

“So for that reason alone, if you have time to look outside and the weather is good, definitely check it out because it’s a perfect New Year’s treat.”

To see them in Britain, look northeast towards the constellation Ursa Major.

The ray of the Quadrantids – the point where the meteors appear to appear – is the now defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis.

Although astronomers made the decision in 1922 to no longer officially recognize this constellation, it still lends its name to the shower.

The radiation from the shower is now in the area of ​​the constellation Boötes or Shepherd.

To see this, look from the handle of the Big Dipper towards the horizon until you see a rough diamond containing the star Arcturus – one of the brightest stars in the sky.

If you can’t find Boötes, don’t worry, as the meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.

For the best views, go somewhere dark, away from light pollution, with a big, open view of the sky.

Give yourself at least 20 minutes to let your eyes adjust to the darkness and then keep your focus on the sky.

Although the Quadrantids will be at their peak, there may still be a wait between meteors, so patience will be key.

Lying down on a blanket or sitting in a camping chair can protect your neck from strain while you wait.

But with temperatures dropping to freezing in some parts of Britain, make sure you dress warmly if you plan to spend time outdoors.

Fortunately, experts say tonight’s conditions offer great opportunities to see stunning fireballs.

Dr. Massey says: ‘The big advantage this year is that the moon doesn’t affect it, so you don’t have a Full Moon in the sky – it’s a very thin crescent – ​​(which) means the light isn’t a big problem.’

However, the weather forecasts for some areas do not look so promising.

While Britain seems fairly confident that it will remain dry this evening, the Met Office is forecasting fairly heavy cloud cover over most of England.

In addition, yellow weather warnings for ice are in force over west Wales and parts of Scotland.

There are yellow snow and ice warnings for most of England on Saturday, so make sure you check your local weather forecast before going stargazing.

What are the quadrantids?

The Quadrantids, like all meteor showers, are caused by the Earth moving through a field of debris in space.

As the planet sweeps up a cloud of scattered rock, these particles burn up in our atmosphere and the glow from superheated gases can be seen like a shooting star.

What makes the Quadrantids special is that they are associated with a near-Earth asteroid called 2003 EH1, and not with a comet like most other showers.

Scientists now believe that this asteroid may be an ‘extinct’ comet that has been stripped of most of its ice.

This means that it does not produce a bright tail as it approaches the sun and no longer leaves any debris behind.

Dr. Massey says: ‘But a comet was seen by the Chinese more than 500 years ago and that may have something to do with it.

“It could be that this comet was once active (but) left behind a lot of debris in an orbit around the solar system that Earth encounters once a year.”

Furthermore, it is the specific composition of this rocky body that gives the Quadrantid meteors their unique appearance.

Unlike most shooting stars that produce plain white light, the Quadrantids can flash with a bright blue color.

Dr. Shyam Balaji, a cosmologist from King’s College London, says: ‘This blue color is due to the high speed of the meteors, about 41 kilometers per second, and the presence of certain elements such as magnesium and iron in the meteoroids, which produce blue radiation radiate. lights up as they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.’