Quadrantid Meteors: When, Where to See in Northfield

If you blink, you might miss the Quadrantids Meteor Shower. It peaks in the hours right before dawn Jan. 3, with a maximum number of meteors per hour of about 80.

The Quadrantids come from an asteroid called 2003 EH1, just as the Geminids did in early December. Meteor showers usually are named based on the constellations where they originate. Quadrans Muralis (mural quadrant) between Bootes and Draco.

The meteor shower is expected to "last only a few hours," according to NASA.com. That means you should look for it in the the night of Jan. 2-3, not the night of Jan. 3-4. The moon will set after midnight, so the best time to view the meteors will be between then and sunrise at about 7:50 a.m.

If there is cloud cover in Northfield, you can watch a Ustream feed of the meteor shower on Jan. 2-4 on NASA.com.

Joel Weisberg, Stark Professor of Physics and Astronomy and the Natural Sciences at Carleton College, told Patch you can get a good view by finding a good piece of land that doesn't have a lot of lights around.

“The darker the place the better,” he said.

He said not having a lot of trees around helps as well, and the later in the night your viewing time is the better the chance you have to see some action.

Getting away from the glow of downtown Northfield or Highway 3 will offer the best chance to get a good look of the shower.

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