Quadrantids

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The Quadrantids are a strong January meteor shower.

The radiant of this shower is an area inside the constellation Boötes. The name comes from Quadrans Muralis, an obsolete constellation that is now part of Boötes.

The parent body of the Quadrantids was recently tentatively identified (in a paper by Peter Jenniskens) as the minor planet 2003 EH₁, which in turn may be the same object as the comet C/1490 Y1^{[citation needed]} which was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Korean astronomers 500 years ago.

The best date to view the Quadrantids is January 3rd, although they can viewed from the 1st through 5th. The peak hours are from nightfall to midnight, although in 2006 they were seen easier after the waxing moon has set.

It is believed that the Quadrantids may have been the source of a meteorite strike in Freehold Township, New Jersey, late at night on January 2, 2007, when a rock the size of a golf ball and the weight of a can of soup punched through the roof of a house and caused moderate damage but no injuries. [1] The Quadrantids were initially suspected as the source of a spectacular shooting star seen in the skies over Denver, Colorado, that same morning. [2] It was later reported by NORAD and U.S. Northern Command that an SL-4 rocket body had re-entered the atmosphere, thus creating this display. [3]