Snow World

This is the latest press release of the PAG-ASA Astronomical Diary for January 2008.

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower will be active from January 1 to January 5. Under a dark and cloudless sky just after midnight of its peak activity on January 3 and 4, meteors or “falling stars” can be seen the rate of at least 20 per hour. The shower will appear to radiate from the constellation of Bootes as shown in figure. The Quadrantid meteor shower hits the Earth’s atmosphere at the rate of about 40 kilometers per second. The incinerated dust are said to be particles apparently derived from the debris ejected by the near-Earth asteroid 2003 EH.

Follow up:

At around 11:00 PM of January 2, Saturn will be 20 degrees above the eastern horizon and will shine at magnitude +0.5. It will lie among the background stars of the constellation Leo, the Lion. On the same date, Venus will be 20 degrees above the east southeastern horizon and will be shining brilliantly at magnitude -3.9 at around 5:00 AM.

On January 8 at 6:00 PM, Mercury will be located at about 8 degrees above the west southwestern and will be shining at magnitude -1.1. On January 22 at around 6:20 PM, it will stand at about 11 degrees above the west southwestern horizon and will be shining at magnitude -0.6. It will lie among the background stars of the constellation Capricornus, the Sea Goat.

Meanwhile, Neptune and Uranus will glow at magnitudes +7.8 and +5.9 and will be found 12 and 37 degrees above the west southwestern horizon, respectively. Neptune will lie among the background stars of the constellation Capricornus, the Sea Goat, while Uranus will be among the stars of Aquarius, the Water Bearer.

On January 8 at around 7:00 PM, Mars will be 30 degrees above the east northeastern horizon shining brilliantly at magnitude -1.3. It will lie among the background stars of the constellation Gemini, the Twin. The Red Planet was at opposition on December 24, and was visible throughout the night.

On January 27 at around 5:40 AM, Jupiter, Venus and Dwarf Planet Pluto will be close to each other in the east southeastern horizon. They will be shining at magnitude -1.9, -3.8 and +14.0 and will be located at 14, 19, and 25 degrees above the horizon respectively. They will be found among the background stars of the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer. Pluto can be observed using a larger telescope and a star chart.

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower will be active from January 1 to January 5. Under a dark and cloudless sky just after midnight of its peak activity on January 3 and 4, meteors or “falling stars” can be seen the rate of at least 20 per hour. The shower will appear to radiate from the constellation of Bootes as shown in figure. The Quadrantid meteor shower hits the Earth’s atmosphere at the rate of about 40 kilometers per second. The incinerated dust are said to be particles apparently derived from the debris ejected by the near-Earth asteroid 2003 EH.

Location of the Quadrantids
For Northern Hemisphere Observers

Figure represents the view from mid-northern latitudes at about 1:00 a.m. local time around January 4. The graphic does not represent the view at the time of maximum, but is simply meant to help prospective observers to find the radiant location. The red line across the bottom of the image represents the horizon. (Image produced by Peter V. Bias using SkyChart III and Adobe Photoshop.)

* ACT = ASEAN Common Time (UTC+0800H)

Source: PAG-ASA: SkyMonth

* Reposted here for archiving, in case the source site disappeared/deleted.