Tonight there will be meteors or shooting stars in the sky around 3am Eastern Standard Time (USA). The Quadrantid meteor shower, the first meteor shower of the year, is a northern-hemisphere phenomenon. The best seeing should be in the Eastern United States around the time the moon sets. If the skies are clear, get warm clothes and blankets and relax in a lawn chair to enjoy the predicted 60 to 200 "shooting stars" per hour. They are not really shooting stars, but just tiny particles, some the size of a grain of sand, diving into our atmosphere at speeds up to 90,000 mph. They usually burn up around 50 miles overhead. A shooting star may streak across the sky in a mere second!
The Quadrantids are a short show -- just a few hours. If the conditions are right, you can see some shooting stars when the moon sets. If so, stay warm and enjoy. Wish upon a star. Otherwise, go back indoors to sleep and have sweet dreams.
Going to check the Southwest Desert skies in the early morning hours,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2012
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