Fans of celestial shows have been waiting for the Quadrantid meteor shower to peak for days now, and many observers in the Northern Hemisphere are in for the show of a lifetime. According to NASA, the Quadrantids will peak in the wee morning hours of January 3rd, at a maximum rate of about 80 per hour, varying between 60-200.
Observers in Australia and lower portions of South America will have a more difficult time to see the celestial show, but fortunately, they will not have to travel far to watch: NASA provides a live Ustream feed, and is managing a photo group on Flickr, where photographers can add their images of the Quadrantid meteor shower, to attract interest from the media and receive international exposure. The camera is mounted at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
For those who would rather watch the shower in nature, all places unpolluted by light in the Northern Hemisphere could do, but the light from a waning gibbous moon will wash out many Quadrantids, cutting down on the number of meteors that can be seen with the naked eye.