Peaks 3–4 January ZHR 80

The Quadrantids

One of the three strongest showers of the year, and the one almost nobody sees.

The Quadrantid maximum is famously narrow — a few hours rather than the day or two the summer showers give you — so being on the wrong side of the planet when it arrives means missing it entirely. It is also in January, at four in the morning, which does the rest.

Named for Quadrans Muralis, a constellation that was quietly dropped in 1922. The shower kept the name of a thing that no longer exists, which is the most astronomical fact about it.

Peak: 3–4 January, most years
Zenithal hourly rate: 80
Radiant: Boötes, off the handle of the Plough
Debris from: asteroid 2003 EH1, probably a dead comet

Where you can see it

The radiant rises everywhere north of 41°S. From mid-northern latitudes (40°N) it climbs to about 65° before dawn. From mid-southern latitudes (35°S) it stays below the horizon while the sky is dark.

The height is the radiant's, the point the meteors seem to come from, on the peak night, counting only the hours when the Sun is at least 12° below the horizon. The lower it is, the fewer meteors reach you: at 30° up you would see about half the rate above, before the Moon and your own sky take their share.

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

The Moon's phase at the Quadrantids maximum, 2026 to 2029
Maximum	Moon	What that means
4 January 2026	Full Moon, 99%	A bright Moon through the pre-dawn hours, which is exactly when the rate peaks.
4 January 2027	Waning Crescent, 13%	With effectively no Moon tonight, this is as good as the Perseids gets.
4 January 2028	First Quarter, 40%	A crescent that sets in the evening, well before the shower's best hours.
4 January 2029	Waning Gibbous, 87%	A bright Moon through the pre-dawn hours, which is exactly when the rate peaks.

The Moon is taken at 00:00 UTC on the morning of maximum. Whether it is actually above your horizon at three in the morning depends on where you are standing — the live calendar works that out for your own location. Showers are almost all better after midnight, when your side of the planet turns to face the direction of travel and starts sweeping meteors up instead of waiting to be caught.

What you need

Nothing. Meteors cross too much sky too fast for binoculars or a telescope to be anything but a handicap — the equipment for this is a coat, a chair that tips back, and twenty minutes for your eyes to adapt. Look up and slightly away from the radiant rather than straight at it; meteors near the radiant are coming at you end-on and leave the shortest trails.

Peak night and rate: International Meteor Organization, Meteor Shower Calendar (opens in a new tab). Moon phases computed here.

The Quadrantids

Where you can see it

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

What you need

Settings

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from