In 2021, a full record of meteor showers will be visible in the sky, having already started with the Quadrantid meteor shower in January.
Every year our skies are illuminated by meteor gestures again, from Geminids and Draconids to Perseids and Lyrids. If the weather is favorable, and the Moon is not too bright, it is possible to see amazing hunting stars.
But when, where and how will you see the meteor displays in 2021? We’ve put together a complete guide, below.
What exactly is a meteor shower?
A meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of debris including a comet orbit or, in simpler terms, when several meters spray over the sky from close to the same point.
Meteors, though they have that, are called shooting stars has nothing to do with stars.
A view causes meteor displays to emerge from one place in the sky called the radiant shower. The typical meteor comes from a grip – the size of a grain of sand weeping in the Earth’s atmosphere when it enters at 134,000mph.
Something more than a grape produces a fireball, which is often accompanied by a continuous aftermath called a meteor train. This is a column of ionized gas slowly descending from view as it loses energy.
Meteor, meteoroid or meteorite?
A meteor is a meteor – or particles broken from an asteroid or comet orbiting the sun – that burns as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, creating a “shooting star”.
Metoroids that reach the Earth’s surface without separation are called meteorites.
Meteors are usually pieces of comet dust and ice that are no larger than rice grains. Meteorites are usually rocks that have been crushed off asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and weigh as much as 60 tons.
They can be “stony”, made up of minerals rich in silicon and oxygen, “iron”, mainly iron and nickel, or “stony iron”, a combination of both.
Scientists believe that about 1,000 tons to more than 10,000 tons of material from meters fall on the Earth every day, but it is mostly dust-like grains, according to Nasa, and they are not danger to the Earth.
There are only two recorded incidents of meteorite-induced injuries. In one of these moments, a woman was crushed by a meteor, weighing eight pounds, after falling through her roof in 1954.
Meteor shower dates for 2021
Quadrant meteor shower
The Quadrantid was the first significant meteor shower this year. It was also one of the most unusual, as the Queorrantid meteor shower appears to have come from an asteroid.
The meteor shower was first seen by Italian astronaut Antonio Brucalassi in 1825, and astronomers suspect the shower comes from the comet C / 1490 Y1, first observed 500 years ago by Japanese astronomers, Chinese and Korean.
Taking place from late at night on January 2 to the morning on January 3, it is famous for the “bright fireball meteors”, which, according to NASA, are among the best annual meteor displays. In 2021, the Quadrantid arrived around 14:30 UTC.
However, this year, the shower was not as good as in previous years due to the moonlight. Although, at its peak, up to 100 meteors were still shining through the January sky.
The Quadrantids appear to be blazing from the extinct constellation Quadrans Muralis, which is now part of the Boötes constellation and not far from the Big Dipper.
Due to the consul’s position in the sky, it is often impossible to see the shower in the Southern Hemisphere. However, it has a chance to be seen up to 51 degrees south latitude.
The best spots to see the show are in countries with high latitudes to the north, such as Norway, Sweden, Canada and Finland.