Meteors
Quadrantids
General data
| Shower | Quadrantids |
|---|---|
| IAU Shower Number | 10 |
| IMO Acronym | QUA |
| Activity interval | Dec 28 - Jan 13 |
| Date of maximum in 2011 | January 3 23:43 UT |
| Geocentric Velocity | 41 km/s |
| Population index | 2.1 |
Notes:
- Population index gives the magnitude distribution of the shower meteors: indexes below 2.5 correspond to distributions where bright meteors are more frequent than average, while values over 3.0 mean that the fraction of faint meteors is larger than usual.
Description
One of the main showers, with most activity concentrated around maximum, when meteors are bright and in high numbers. Off maximum they tend to be fainter.
P.Jenniskens has suggested that they could be linked to minor planet (196256), that could be just one of the fragments of an unknown larger parent. Some authors have proposed that this minor planet is related to comet C/1490 Y1, but recent studies reject this (Micheli et al. 2008, pending publication in Monthly Notices of the RAS Letters).
Radiant position and activity
Local circumstances have been computed for latitude ? and longitude ?. Click on any of the two coordinates to set them manually with a map.
| Date | R.A. | Decl. | ZHR | Rise | % moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum | 230° | 50° | 120 | 2 | |
| September 9 (0h UTC) | Inactive | ||||
Meaning of columns is the following:
- R.A. and Decl.: Right ascension and declination of radiant at maximum, referred to ICRS. ICRS is the reference system used by modern star catalogs.
- ZHR: Zenith Hourly Rate. It is the maximum number of meteors that an observer could see under ideal conditions, with clear skies and the radiant at zenith.
- Rise: Time of geometric rise of the radiant, expressed in local time. Symbol * means that the radiant is circumpolar for your latitude.
- % Moon: Percentage of Moon's illumination at 0h UTC of the given date.
If you are in doubt about these concepts, please visit the meteor area.