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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. 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?
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. |
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