Meteor Shower Tonight!

…This just in from Hubby, who emails me lovely, pertinent tidbits of FYI during the day…

The Quadrantid meteor shower is due to reach maximum in the predawn hours of Friday, Jan. 4. The Quadrantids are notoriously unpredictable, but if any year promises a fine display, this could be it.

So here’s the WhoWhatWhenWhereWhy (complete article here):

According to the International Meteor Organization, maximum activity this year is expected on Friday 1:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

For those in the eastern United States, the radiant will be about one-quarter of the way up in the east-northeast sky. The farther to the north and east you go, the higher in the sky the radiant will be. To the south and west the radiant will be lower and the meteors will be fewer.

Across central and western parts of North America, the shower’s sharp peak will have already passed and meteor activity will be rapidly diminishing by the time the radiant has a chance to get very high in the northeastern sky. Nonetheless, hourly rates of perhaps 15 to 30 may still be seen.

For us, this will be a risky venture, as we are a bit more westerly than easterly. But we’re not very south, so we’ve got that going for us. Now, I’ve been fooled by meteor showers in the past. Nothing is more anticlimactic than sitting outside in the freezing cold, missing sleep, looking at a dark sky without anything happening at all. And yet, that’s where you’ll find me at any mention of some astronomical event. At the very least, this will give us a good excuse to huddle together, drinking Deluxe Hot Chocolate, and talking about whatever we can manage so late at night (or, so very very early in the morning.)

This year, I might have blown off these Quadrantid’s since we were just on a New Year’s Eve bender of no sleep…but darn those astronomers, they got me with this:

Indeed, this may end up being the best meteor shower of 2008.

*sigh*
I’m such a sucker.