Quadrantids
Active 12-28 – 01-12; peaks ~2026-01-04.
- Typical peak
- 2026-01-04
- ZHR
- 110
- Radiant
- Boötes
- Active period
- 12-28 → 01-12
Moon at peak (2026-01-04)
Full Moon · 99% illuminated.
Very poor — a near-full moon will overwhelm the sky and reduce observed rates by 70-90%.
Observing tips
- Best viewed from a dark site with no moonlight after midnight, when the radiant in Boötesclimbs higher and Earth's orbital motion sweeps the leading edge through the meteor stream.
- Lie flat looking ~50° from the radiant — meteors with longer tails appear at this angle than directly at the radiant point.
- ZHR 110is a theoretical maximum: clear sky, radiant overhead, no light pollution. Real-world rates at most observers' latitudes are typically 30-60% of ZHR.
- Allow your eyes 20+ minutes to adapt to darkness; avoid looking at phone screens during the session.
What is ZHR?
Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is the number of meteors a single observer would see in one hour under perfect conditions: a moonless, cloudless sky with the radiant directly overhead and a limiting magnitude of +6.5. It is a normalisation, not a forecast. Observers at lower radiant altitude or under any light pollution will see substantially fewer meteors than the published ZHR suggests.
Other showers active near this peak
- Ursids · peaks 12/22, ZHR 10
Source: Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA). Moon phase computed locally via astronomy-engine.