Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Quadrantid Shower - How Are You Viewing?

DanWri

By DanWri
in Observing - Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

DanWri

DanWri

Posted
Posted (edited)

Since we're forecast almost complete cloud coverage over the next few days in West Yorkshire it's going to be tough watching the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. It'd be nice to hear how everyone else is planning their viewing, if you wouldn't mind sharing. Living vicariously and such.

Edited by DanWri
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tiny Clanger

Tiny Clanger

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, DanWri said:

Since we're forecast almost complete cloud coverage over the next few days in West Yorkshire it's going to be tough watching the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. It'd be nice to hear how everyone else is planning their viewing, if you wouldn't mind sharing. Living vicariously and such.

Don't think I'll have any experiences to share, as three yellow weather warnings of snow have been issued for my area too

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings?regionName=EM&from=rss&sn=10581103-ecc8-4c4d-8fe9-612bb8ea483c#?date=2021-01-02

Look on the bright side though : people find meteorites more easily on snow and ice fields because they stand out against the white ground ... who knows, a nice lump of space rock (not necessarily from a specific shower)  could land in the garden any time ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Waddensky

Waddensky

Posted
Posted

The Quadrantids are a rich shower, but with an incredibly narrow peak - which unfortunately occurs during the day for observers in Europe this year. Maybe a few meteors can be spotted Sunday after dusk before the Moon is up.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul M

Paul M

Posted
Posted

It's very clear here now and forecast to be for some time.

I've never knowingly seen a Quadrantid but I haven't really tried for decades. I seem to remember they have a very sharp peak in activity. I'll have to look up the circumstances for this year.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DanWri

DanWri

Posted
  • Author
Posted
14 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Don't think I'll have any experiences to share, as three yellow weather warnings of snow have been issued for my area too

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings?regionName=EM&from=rss&sn=10581103-ecc8-4c4d-8fe9-612bb8ea483c#?date=2021-01-02

Look on the bright side though : people find meteorites more easily on snow and ice fields because they stand out against the white ground ... who knows, a nice lump of space rock (not necessarily from a specific shower)  could land in the garden any time ...

I'm absolutely certain this is our year, Tiny. A space rock is in both of our very near futures.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul M

Paul M

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

The Quadrantids are a rich shower, but with an incredibly narrow peak - which unfortunately occurs during the day for observers in Europe this year. Maybe a few meteors can be spotted Sunday after dusk before the Moon is up.

Ah yes. I just looked it up. The peak is due after midday tomorrow (Sunday). I guess my Quadrantids count will remain approximately zero!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DanWri

DanWri

Posted
  • Author
Posted
6 minutes ago, Paul M said:

It's very clear here now and forecast to be for some time.

I've never knowingly seen a Quadrantid but I haven't really tried for decades. I seem to remember they have a very sharp peak in activity. I'll have to look up the circumstances for this year.

 

Paul, it's a little off topic but I couldn't help spotting your profile picture. Is that where you live? I can imagine the light pollution is close to none!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Can't imagine I'll be seeing much.

Looking at the Met Office forecast for here, every single one-hour or three-hour window from now until the end of Friday is showing cloud :(

James

Same here :rolleyes2:

Meteor showers almost invariably end up being a disappointment I've found, even the famous ones. Hope be proved wrong someday and see a spectacular show though :smiley:

Any meteorite that lands in the UK will need to be found pretty quickly. Our climate is not kind to them - they soon disintegrate and become very hard to distinguish from the native soil.

Edited by John
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DanWri

DanWri

Posted
  • Author
Posted
10 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

The Quadrantids are a rich shower, but with an incredibly narrow peak - which unfortunately occurs during the day for observers in Europe this year. Maybe a few meteors can be spotted Sunday after dusk before the Moon is up.

That's true, but according to the BBC the shower is still able to be seen both tonight and tomorrow night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tiny Clanger

Tiny Clanger

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, John said:

Same here :rolleyes2:

Meteor showers almost invariably end up being a disappointment I've found, even the famous ones. Hope be proved wrong someday and see a spectacular show though :smiley:

Any meteorite that lands in the UK will need to be found pretty quickly. Our climate is not kind to them - they soon disintegrate and become very hard to distinguish from the native soil.

Hah , reminds me of the colourful tales my geology prof told in tutorials of his heroic single handed discovery of the Barwell Christmas meteorite, just north of here. , turns out a vase of artificial flowers and  Vauxhall Viva did some of the work too :

https://spacecentre.co.uk/blog-post/day-meteorite-landed-barwell/

Not sure about meteorites disintegrating fast in UK soil though : as I recall there is a range of compositions between stony meteorite and iron meteorite, I was taught as an undergrad that in the event of being asked to ID a possible rock from space, first field diagnostics were was it magnetic, and did it seem disproportionately heavy compared with, say a similarly sized lump of basalt. Proper analysis of internal structure and the presence of nickel were the next steps, but every bit of 'meteorite' or indeed 'obsidian' I've ever been asked for my opinion on has been blast furnace slag ...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul M

Paul M

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, DanWri said:

Paul, it's a little off topic but I couldn't help spotting your profile picture. Is that where you live? I can imagine the light pollution is close to none!

That's our Luxury Cumbrian Villa! We don't live there, it's our get-away destination. Unfortunately seen little of it since February due to travel restrictions. I used to consider it to be a dark sky location but the lights of Penrith, 4 miles to the north are slowly encroaching. Mostly due to unshielded industrial floodlights.

From what I can see from https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/, my home sky is Bortle class 5, which I think is optimistic and our get-away is Bortle class 4, which is disappointing for Cumbria.  The real difference is visually astounding. Can't see the milky way from home but it's unmissable up there.

And just to keep on topic, it would be a great place to look for Quadrantids! :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tiny Clanger

Tiny Clanger

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, DanWri said:

I'm absolutely certain this is our year, Tiny. A space rock is in both of our very near futures.

As long as it doesn't land on me or the cat, I'm more than OK with that.

Which reminds me, must get some quotes for the car insurance ...

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul M

Paul M

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Which reminds me, must get some quotes for the car insurance ...

Just be careful. Meteor watchers, like storm chasers, need to declare their greater exposure to risk!!

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tiny Clanger

Tiny Clanger

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Just be careful. Meteor watchers, like storm chasers, need to declare their greater exposure to risk!!

I was thinking more of the hyundai hatchback as a meteor catcher then chaser, like the Vauxhall mentioned in the article I linked to .

Apparently the chap whose viva got bashed in by a space rock had his claim refused as an act of god ... must check the small print on the policies offered 🙂

Heather

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

.... I've ever been asked for my opinion on has been blast furnace slag ...

Most "specimens" presented for checking are just that !

I've searched for meteorites in and around Barwell a few times but so far, no luck. I ended up having to buy a chunk from a dealer :rolleyes2:

I've also hunted at Aldsworth, Glos, but that one fell a long, long time ago:

http://www.bimsociety.org/bim1.shtml

If I was serious I'd go to the north african deserts but a) my other half does not fancy that trip and b) I probably would not come back ......

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.