First rain tonight "shooting stars" 2023

Spectacular quadrantides are the first shooting star rain of 2023 to be seen in Greece tonight.

On Tuesday evening, “starry rain” will be shed. But this year, the observation of the astronomical phenomenon may be overshadowed by the fact that in a few days there will be a full moon, the first in 2023, as a result of which the sky will be quite heavily lit, and therefore only the brightest meteors can be observed.

The “rain” from the quadrantids, which usually lasts from January 1 to January 5, peaking in the middle of this period, is best seen in more northern latitudes. At their peak (up to 40 meteors per hour), they enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of more than 40 kilometers per second, in some years their number was recorded up to 120.

This meteor shower is “middling” and is less known than others such as the Leonids, Orionids and Didymids as its meteors are weaker. Although, it should be noted that often they illuminate the sky with unusually large “tails”.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is named after the constellation Wall Quadrant. The radiant, which is called the region of meteor departure, is located under the handle of the bucket Ursa Major in the constellation Bootes. The next major shower will be the Lyrids, which peak on April 22 and 23.

Source link