Community Corner

Quadrantids Meteor Shower: New Year's Light Show

When is the Quadrantids Meteor Shower? If you don't pay attention, you may miss the first light show of 2013.

What a way to ring in the New Year. TheΒ Quadrantids Meteor ShowerΒ 2013 peaks overnight on Jan. 2-3.

The Quadrantids come from an asteroid calledΒ 2003 EH1, just as the Geminids did in early December. Expect to see about 80 meteors per hour.

Tips for best viewing of the meteor shower

Find out what's happening in Tarpon Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The meteor shower is expected to "last only a few hours,"Β according to NASA.com. That means you should look for it in the the night of Jan. 2-3, not the night of Jan. 3-4. The best time to view the meteors is between 3 a.m. and dawn.

Earthsky.orgΒ reportsΒ the Quadrantids peakΒ might be in the hours just before dawn on Jan. 3.

Find out what's happening in Tarpon Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"Face the general direction of north-northeast, but take in as wide an expanse of sky as possible. Watch from about 2 a.m. until dawn," Earthsky writes.

If there is cloud cover iin Gulfport, you can watch a Ustream feed of the meteor showerΒ on Jan. 2-4 on NASA.com.

The beach is always a nice spot, away from the lights of the city. Do you have a favorite place to watch shooting stars? Let us know in the comments section below.

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