The Perseids get a lot of good press, and rightly so. They are a prolific meteor shower that happens in the warm summer days of mid-August. But for stargazers less concerned with comfort, a contender will soon grace the cold and dark January skies over Saskatchewan.
“If you like the Perseids, the Quadrantids should blow your mind,” said Patricia Gakis, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society in Saskatoon.
The Quadrantids meteor shower, which will be visible in the northeast sky, is expected to peak in the early hours of Saturday, starting around 1 a.m. CST.
It was less than a week ago that a meteor streaked across the night sky, with the fireball caught on tape.
“Likely it would have been a good solid size,” said Gakis. “There’s a theory that possibly something actually survived the atmosphere and fell somewhere. So we’ve got … actually quite a few meteorite lovers that are in the group, but I haven’t had a chance to touch base with them to see what they think, if it’s worth kind of triangulating it to see where it fell. We’ll find out in the next little bit.”
Never mind the Perseids
The dust has barely settled from that event and now the Quadrantids have arrived. This annual January meteor shower is shorter than the Perseids, but it’s also more intense.
“I’ve read a few varying numbers but anywhere between like 80 to 100 [meteors] per hour on a good night, whereas the Perseids are a little bit less … more in the 60 to 80 range,” said Gakis.
With the Quadrantids set to bring their show to the sky early Saturday morning, Gakis emphasized that stargazers need to be in place on time.
“It’s really kind of short,” she warns. “You really want to get within that one to two o’clock in the morning, maybe a little bit before or a little bit after.”
Blankets and warm drinks
There’s no guarantee that the show will be visible for everyone in Saskatchewan.
The forecast across the southern part of the province is calling for some clouds. Light pollution could also be an issue. Gakis suggests that if you live in an urban area, you might want to jump in the car and head northeast.
“I know a lot of people will just kind of drive until it’s time to pull over and then just kind of watch.”
Along with your curiosity for the wonders of the universe, Gakis suggested you may want to pack along a chair, blankets and hot drinks.
