ITWire

A clear night is essential as you watch these tiny Quadrantid meteors shooting across the sky with speeds of from 50,000 to 165,000 miles per hour (81,000 to 265,000 kilometers per hour).

With the New Moon occurring at 4:03 a.m. EST on January 4, little moonlight will be present so meteor-watchers should be able to see many meteors per hour on the nights leading up to January 3 and following it. Of course, that is, if the evening sky is clear.

So, find yourself a spot away from any artificially produced lights so it is as dark as possible outside. And, make sure you are as warm as possible for the viewing.

At the peak, you should be able to see up to 120 meteors shooting across the sky per hour - that's about 2 per minute. On average, you should be able to see 40 to 60 per hour.

To see the radiant of the meteor shower, look to the northern part of the constellation Boötes, which will be located in the eastern sky at midnight and overhead at dawn.

Boötes is located between the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars making up the head of the constellation Draco.

Generally, find the star Polaris (the North Star) and observe in this area.

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