BANGKOK, Jan 3 (TNA) — The Quadrantids meteor shower will appear on Jan 3-4 and people can see the phenomenon with bare eyes.
Suparerk Karuhanont, astronomical service chief of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, said the Quadrantids meteor shower normally happened between Dec 28 and Jan 12 and for this year the shower would peak on the night of Jan 3 from 2.30am to the morning of Jan 4.
The center of the shower would be surrounded by Hercules, Bootes and Draco constellations in the northeastern sky.
Astronomers expect the maximal shower rate at 120 meteors per hour. The sky would be free of moonlight and thus people would be able to see the phenomenon with bare eyes, Mr Suparerk said.
The Quadrantids are produced by asteroid 2003 EH1, the orbit of which passes close to the orbit of Earth. When the asteroid passes Earth, its particles fall to Earth due to its gravity and cause meteors.
The shower was named after the Quadrans Muralis constellation that is surrounded by Hercules, Bootes and Draco constellations. (TNA)
