The moon won’t be interfering with what could be the biggest meteor shower of the year in Alaska skies. For stargazers, hopefully the clouds will part this week.
This winter’s Quadrantids are active right now, and peak around Jan. 2–4, lasting until about Jan. 16. The apex of this particular meteor shower, which is named for a long-dead constellation, coincides with a new moon, which was on Dec. 30. The moon on Jan. 2 will be about 10% full, when stargazers may see more than 80 meteors an hour from the celestial debris field.
The Quadrantids are some of the best meteor showers every year, according to NASA, and they come in a narrow time window of about 6 hours nightly.
The Lyrics meteor shower is in April, and Delta Aquariids meteor shower peaks in late July, and the the Perseids peak on Aug. 12, with more than 100 meteors per hour. But in Alaska, those meteor showers will be upstaged by the sun, and so for stargazers north of Latitude 55, bundling up and heading outside in predawn hours this week will be their best bet for this astronomical wonder.
Thanks for this great tip. Happy New Year, Suzanne!💥🎉
Thanks for sharing.
Start Alaska’s New Year with shooting stars. Ok that will be fun
Ohh wow that’s nice. I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing. Happy 2025