Tonight, the mysterious meteor shower that will last from 2024 to 2025 will peak at 200 meteors per hour.

Tonight and early tomorrow morning (January 3 - 4), will Vietnamese people see 200 Quadrantids meteors per hour in the sky when this mysterious meteor shower reaches its peak?

That is Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of 2025 that Vietnamese astronomy lovers are looking forward to when it peaks on the weekend.

The Hanoi Astronomical Society (HAS) said that the Quadrantids meteor shower will be active annually from the evening of December 26, 2024 to January 16, 2025, with its peak this year falling at 11 p.m. on January 3, 2025. Thus, this meteor shower will last from 2024 to 2025.

Quadrantids Meteor Shower is the First Meteor Shower of 2025

PHOTO: HUY HYUNH

Accordingly, the best time to observe this meteor shower will be in the early morning of January 4, 2025. Under favorable viewing conditions, you can see from 60 to 200 meteors flying across the sky per hour at its peak. Although considered one of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year, the Quadrantids has a short peak period, lasting only a few hours.

This year, the first crescent moon will set in the early evening and will have little impact on your viewing. The Quadrantids' peak, the point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate, is in the ancient constellation Quadrans Muralis. You can currently find the Quadrantids' peak in the constellation Bootes.

The reason this is considered a mysterious meteor shower is because for many years, the parent comet of the Quadrantids remained unknown. That's because astronomers were looking for an object whose orbit coincides with the orbit of the Quadrantids meteor stream.

Other meteor showers have “parent objects” whose orbits coincide with their meteor streams. But the Quadrantids’ “parent objects” are different. There are currently at least two objects associated with Quadrantid meteors.

The primary object that produces the Quadrantids is an asteroid called 2003 EH1. It is believed to be a dormant or extinct comet. Astronomers now say there is also a second object involved that may be contributing to the shower, possibly the comet 96P/Machholz. The material we see streaking across the sky was ejected from this comet centuries ago.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/toi-nay-mua-sao-bang-bi-an-keo-dai-tu-2024-den-2025-dat-cuc-dai-200-vet-gio-185250101160006845.htm