- Rafael Bachiller.Digital meeting
- Chronicle of the cosmos: a cosmic bat
On the night of January 3 to 4 will take place the maximum activity of the Quadrantids, a rain of shooting stars of short duration, but of very intense activity. This is a good year for observation after midnight, as the maximum happens during the crescent moon room.
January clear nights
A new year begins and the cold nights of this time can be excellent in our country for astronomical observation. They are long nights, almost 14 hours long. In addition, when the sky is clear, temperatures are low and the atmosphere is usually very transparent and stable. So, despite the cold, it is worth wrapping up well to enjoy the first celestial phenomena that the new year holds for us. For example, Venus shines very generously now after sunset , while Mars shyly shows a distant reddish glow in the sunrises.
However paradoxical it may seem to us here in the northern hemisphere, where winter prevails, on January 5, at 8 am (peninsular time) it will be the time of the year when the Earth will be closest to the Sun. In that position, called perihelion (from the Greek peri, 'around' and helios, Sun), the distance from our planet to the king star will be 147,091,508 kilometers, that is, about 5 million kilometers closer than in the aphelion position, for which we will spend from July 4 at 2pm.
The first full moon of the year will take place on Friday, January 10 in Gemini, just three days before the perigee (the maximum Earth-Moon approach) so our satellite will look particularly large and bright.
But without a doubt, the biggest event of the first days of the year will be the rain of the Quadratids. Although it will provide us with visible meteors between January 1 and 6, its maximum activity will take place on the night of Friday 3 to Saturday 4 .
How to observe this short but intense rain
Together with the Perseids (observable in August) and the Geminids (in December), the Quadratids are one of the most active rains of the year, being able to produce about 120 meteors per hour in optimal conditions.
The Quadrantids have a very short duration, their maximum activity (measured between the two points in which the activity is half of the maximum) barely lasts 8 hours. For comparison, keep in mind that the maximum activity of the Perseids can be extended for 48 hours. The short duration of the Quadrantids is due to the swarm of particles that creates the rain of stars is very narrow and, in addition, the Earth crosses it at an almost perpendicular angle.
The Quadrantids are named after an ancient constellation, called Quadrans Muralis, which is not used today. Its radiant is in the current constellation of the Boyero (Bootes), near the Major and Minor Bears, Hercules and Draco (the Dragon).
But it is not necessary to know the exact position of the radiant to observe the Quadrantids because, although they all seem to come from that 'radiant' point, shooting stars can appear anywhere in the sky.
On the night of maximum activity, on January 3 to 4, the Moon will be in a phase of increasing quarter (remember that the full moon will be day 10), so to better observe the meteors it will be convenient to wait for it to lie down the Moon, shortly after midnight. In addition, it will be preferable to look for a very dark sky, free of light pollution , and a horizon free of obstacles.
Mysterious origin
For many years the origin of the Quadrantids was a true mystery. However, in 2003, the Dutch-American astronomer Peter Jenniskens identified the body from which this shower of stars emerged: an asteroid from the Love group (close to Earth) called '2003 EH1'.
In turn, this asteroid could be the residue of an extinct comet: C / 1490 Y1, whose disintegration was observed from East Asia in the spring of the year 1490, while creating a spectacular meteor shower. However, the fact that the disintegration was seen in spring and the Quadrantids happen in January makes the precise relationship between this comet, the asteroid and the Quadrantids remain somewhat uncertain .
Rafael Bachiller is an astronomer and director of the National Astronomical Observatory (IGN)
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