With up to 120 meteors per hour visible, it is one of the most impressive and colorful. The busiest peak will occur on Sunday and Moon will allow an excellent observation to be waning, which will appear very late at night
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The Year begins with a strong meteor shower, second only occasionally by the Geminids, the maximum was the night of 13 to 14 December.
The Quadrantids is one of the most active meteor showers throughout the year . Seen 1 to January 5, with peak activity on day 3. The number of visible meteors can become between 120 and 200 per hour and is comparable with the highest rainfall levels have Perseid August or November Leonids. Along with the rain of the Geminids, it is often one of the most amazing and active rains of the year.
It’s very interesting this rain, because its meteors are slow and become very colorful, often leaving Persistent contrails, which are the remains of the disintegration of the meteor floating in the sky for seconds or minutes. Their speeds are usually about 41 km / s, while others cast their meteor showers to 72 km / s and can only see flashes lasting a fraction of a second. Quadrantids meteors burn in the atmosphere between 100 and 80 km high.
A defunct constellation
All meteor showers meteors or shooting stars have a name that matches with the constellation from which the meteors appear to come; Geminids in the constellation Gemini, Perseids from Perseus, Leonidas Leo, etc. But there is no constellation Quadrant.
The name comes from its radiant Quadrantids (place from which the meteors appear to originate in heaven) who was in the now defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis, representing an astronomical instrument called quadrant. The main star of this constellation was the variable CL Draconis, a faint star of magnitude 4.95.
Part of the constellation Quadrant now occupies the northern constellation Bootes area, there comes shooting stars, Bootes, although he still called Quadrantids in honor of the defunct constellation. He was among the constellations of Hercules and Bootes Dragon.
The constellation was created by the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1795, but like many others, disappeared for increased and more visible constellations. Some of the missing constellations are: Gallus allector Dio (the rooster of the Passion of Christ), Anser (Goose), or Antinous Antinous (the second century, in honor of the Emperor Hadrian), Apis (Bee), Cor Carolis ( Heart of Carlos, in honor of Charles I of England), Felis (Cat), or Harpa Psalterium Georgii Georgii (the Harp of George in honor of King George III of England), and so many more:
An ancient comet and a new asteroid
The meteors come from an old comet that was observed for the first time over 500 years ago by astronomers from East Asia, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean; Comet C / 1490 Y1. It is a periodic comet, that is, its orbit around the sun is closed and is believed to return to perihelion or closest to the Sun every 6207 years point, and whose orbit is remarkably inclined (70,22º) to the plane by which the planets around the Sun (ecliptic) move.
Some astronomers have linked this shower of shooting stars with asteroid 2003 EH1, discovered in 2003, an extinct comet now become asteroid, which reached its closest point to the Sun on March 12, 2014. The orbit of this asteroid is very similar to the current Quadrantids, ie, that the remains of the comet that caused this rain and floating in the sky to hit Earth in early January, matching the asteroid’s orbit. However, most astronomers still think that rain is caused by the comet C / 1490 Y1. However, other studies lead to think that the asteroid is actually the comet C / 1490 extinct without frost matter that surrounds it.
Because the comet was observed with the naked eye for more than 500 years and for about 6 weeks, the parameters of the orbit of the comet are not clearly resolved, and the mystery of this heavenly body persists. Is it really the asteroid 2003 EH1 the extinct comet C / 1490 Y1? Does the comet became fragmented and the asteroid 2003 EH1 is one of the remains of comet C / 1490 Y1? Still continues to study this case.
How do you see them
While scientists solve these doubts, it is best to go to a place away from big cities and is very dark. This year we have the great good fortune that night of January 3 afternoon moon appears in the sky, so that we will have much of the night to see this powerful meteor shower without disturbing the moonlight. So a great event to darkness.
The Moon will appear on the 3 and fifteen in the morning on the horizon E, while the constellation Bootes will do almost the same place at 1.30 h. The maximum activity is scheduled for 8 am on 4. Look in the opposite direction before dawn with respect to the Moon not to be dazzled.
The best thing is to see the meteors laying around and well sheltered during these nights of January. Needless any optical aid, perhaps binoculars if we see any lingering trail; with the binoculars we could see over a period of time. We must get away from the big cities to avoid light. Preferably look to the NE.
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