Space Events

Quadrantid Meteor Shower

The first meteor shower of 2023, the Quadrantids, is coming up — and it may be one of the most spectacular showers of the year. The Quadrantids are active from Dec. 26 to Jan. 16 but will peak on Jan. 2 and 3. At the peak, viewers can expect an average of 80 meteors per hour streaking through Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA(opens in new tab). — although the shower could produce up to 200 per hour. Most notably, the Quadrantids are known for producing dramatic fireball meteors, which are longer and brighter than typical meteors because they originate from bigger pieces of debris.

The Quadrantids are the debris trail of an asteroid called 2003 EH1, which was discovered in the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) in 2003. The asteroid is about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) across and may be the remnants of an extinct comet