Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2013: Best Place and Time to Watch

The Quadrantid meteor shower is the first meteor shower of 2013.

The Quadrantid meteor shower, the first meteor shower of 2013, will peak Thursday in the early hours. The Quadrantids is one of the lesser-known meteor showers of the year, but that doesn't mean it's anything less than spectacular. Take a look at this Quadrantids meteor shower video or these pictures of the Quadrantids. A stubborn moon will wash out many Quadrantids, cutting down on the number of meteors seen by skywatchers, but with an average of about 80 per hour, clear skies should mean many of the shooting stars will still be visible. From NASA: Like the Geminids, the Quadrantids originate from an asteroid, called 2003 EH1. Dynamical studies suggest that this body could very well be a piece of a comet which broke apart several …

• Videos (1)

Last Meteor Shower of 2012 Promises to Be Spectacular -- If Sky is Clear

The peak of the Geminid shower will be at about 2 a.m. Dec. 13 and 14, Earthsky.org reports.

The Geminid meteor shower 2012, the final major meteor shower of every year and likely to be the best, peaks overnight Dec. 13 and 14, and you may be able to see a great show on either side of those dates. If you liked the Perseids meteor shower 2012 in August, you should love this. NASA reports that the Geminids are a relatively young meteor shower, with the first sightings occurring in the 1830s with rates of about 20 per hour. Over the decades the rates have increased, regularly spawning between 80 and 120 per hour at its peak on a clear evening. How spectacular is it? Just take a look at this video of the Geminid meteor shower. You can also look at some amazing photos of the Geminids. Earthsky.org reports the Geminids peak might be …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Tips for Watching the Orionids Meteor Shower 2012

This weekend's Orionids meteor shower promises to be a show worth watching, according to info from the Adler Planetarium.

A ‘Super’ Super Moon Set to Shine Saturday

Full moon will be closest to Earth in nearly 20 years.

Grab your telescopes and cameras and turn your eyes to the skies Saturday night. You won't want to miss another “Super Moon.” Astronomers are saying that this Super Moon will be even more super than usual. “The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. told USA Today. This Super Moon (a phrase coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979) will appear especially large because the moment of perigee—when the moon is closest to the Earth in its monthly rotation—will coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon, Smithsonian points out. During last year’s Super Moon on March 19, 2011, for comparison, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart. …

• Photos (1)

Spring Ahead: Don’t Forget to Reset Your Clocks

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday.

If you’ve had just about enough of wintertime, we’ve got good news for you: you’re about to get a little more sunshine. Of course, there’s a tradeoff: Depending on what time you have to get up Sunday morning, you might lose an hour of sleep. Starting at 2 a.m. March 13, most of North America will make the shift to Daylight Savings Time by moving the clock ahead one hour. Consider this your reminder to reset your clocks before you go to bed Saturday night. Courtesy of NASA, here’s some trivia about Daylight Savings.

• Photos (1)