
"The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the American Meteor Society. In dark skies during the peak, skygazers typically see around 25 meteors per hour, but this time they'll likely glimpse less than 10 per hour due to light from Saturday's supermoon. The biggest enemy of enjoying a meteor shower is the full moon, said Mike Shanahan, planetarium director at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey."
"Meteor showers happen when speedy space rocks collide with Earth's atmosphere, burning up and leaving fiery tails in their wake the end of a shooting star. A handful of meteors are visible on any given night, but predictable showers appear annually when Earth passes through dense streams of cosmic debris. Supermoons occur when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes it appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA."
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday night into Saturday morning and normally produces about 25 meteors per hour under dark skies. A concurrent supermoon on Saturday will brighten the sky and likely reduce visible meteors to fewer than ten per hour. Meteor showers occur when space rocks burn in Earth's atmosphere, producing fiery tails. Supermoons happen when a full moon is closer in its orbit, appearing up to 14% larger and 30% brighter. The Quadrantids are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere without special equipment. Observers should go out away from city lights, let eyes adjust, and avoid looking at phones.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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