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The first meteor shower of the year is expected to light up the sky on Friday night, with stargazers in the UK able to see up to 50 meteors per hour.
The Quadrantid meteor shower, which returns every year in early January, is expected to peak on Friday, but meteors will remain visible in the sky until January 12, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.
Dr Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society, said observers hoping to catch a glimpse of celestial fireworks after sunset would need to “stay as far away from light pollution as possible”.
Showers “have a very powerful intensity if you’re in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Dr Massey added: “They won’t be the brightest meteorites overall, but (quaternary meteorites) include a fair number of fireballs.
“A fireball is something that sounds exciting but what it really means is a really bright meteor.
“Quadrantids are meteor showers that produce this type of event.
“For this reason alone, if you have time to observe and the weather is good, take a look as it is a perfect New Year’s gift.”
The only caveat is that this year’s quads have a “really sharp peak within a few hours,” Dr. Massey added.
This means visible meteor rates in the UK will be lower than when the shower is at its peak at 3pm on Friday, when the country is not yet dark.
Dr. Massey added that luckier observers on the US West Coast or in the Pacific region might see up to 70 or 80 meteors per hour.
Meteorites are the result of small particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, usually about 40 kilometers per second for Quadrantid meteorites.
Pieces of debris heat up due to friction with the air and are usually destroyed in less than a second at altitudes of more than 80 kilometers.
The superheated air around the meteorite glows briefly, and can be seen from Earth as a streak of light known as a “shooting star.”
Unlike many astronomical events, meteor showers are easy to watch and do not require any special equipment to enjoy.
However, Dr Massey warned that those hoping to capture the perfect photo of the night sky may need to invest in more advanced photography equipment than the usual smartphone.
“You’re unlikely to catch anything,” he said [with a phone] Because it’s so fleeting – perhaps only a split second – that your reactions won’t be good enough to photograph it.
“So what people tend to do is what’s called long exposure.
“They open the lens or the shutter and leave it running for several minutes, or anything up to half an hour.
“In some cases, people have sky cameras that work all night.
“You have to do that because you never know exactly when a meteor is coming.
“Photographing meteor showers requires patience!”