How to spot a shooting star in tonight's Quadrantid meteor shower
The first week of 2025 has also brought the year's first meteor shower, with up to 50 shooting stars an hour expected to stream across British skies tonight.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is set to peak on Friday. Some clear skies in the early evening could provide an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon in the UK, for those willing to brave the cold.
They will mark the last visible meteor shower until mid April, following the Geminids and Ursids lighting up skies in December.
But what are the Quadrantids - and how can you spot them?
What are the Quadrantids?
Meteors are the result of small particles from space entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. The superheated air around the meteor glows briefly, and is visible from the ground as a streak of light known as a “shooting star”.
As the Quadrantids crash into the atmosphere, they will travel at around 40km per second. The meteor shower is made up of debris from the asteroid 2003 EH1.
The Quadrantid meteor shower returns every year in early January. Most meteor showers are named after constellations where they appear to originate from, but the Quadrantids take their name from a constellation that doesn't exist any more.
When will they be visible?
The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak on Friday night, but meteors will remain visible in the sky up until January 12, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.
The shower's peak is at 3pm on Friday, before it is fully dark, but meteors should still be visible later into Friday evening.
How can I see them?
Unlike many astronomical events, meteor showers are easy to watch and do not require any special equipment to be enjoyed.
Dr Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society, said the key for anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the Quadrantids is to move as far away from light pollution as possible.
He said: “They won’t be the brightest meteors on the whole, but they do include a fair number of fireballs. A fireball is a dramatic sounding thing, but what it really means is a really bright meteor.
“So for that reason alone, if you have the time to look out and the weather is good, then do take a look because it’s a perfect New Year treat.”
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However, those hoping to score the perfect night sky shot may need to invest in more sophisticated photographic equipment than the usual smartphone.
Dr Massey said: “You’re unlikely to catch anything [with a phone] because they’re so fleeting – they only last perhaps a fraction of a second – so your reactions are not going to be good enough to photograph it. So what people tend to do is what are called long exposures.
“They open up the lens or the shutter and leave it running for several minutes, or anything up to half an hour."
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