Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks Thursday

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

The Quadrantid 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 Richfield on that night, you can watch a Ustream feed of the meteor shower on Jan. 2-4 on NASA.com.

Obviously, you'll have more luck catching the shooting stars if you're in a place not polluted by light.

Wood Lake Nature Center probably provides the best environment for this, but it closes at sunset, and the meteor shower will probably be most visible as the night goes on. Other options include Veterans Memorial Park or your own backyard.

If you're willing to travel, the Onan Observatory at Baylor Regional Park in Noorwood Young America just west of the Twin Cities is an option. The observatory is free to visit, but a parking pass is required to enter the park.

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