The Quadrantids meteor shower peaks tonight! Don’t miss the first “shooting stars” of 2025

At the start of each January, the Quadrantid meteor stream offers one of the most intense annual meteor shows, with a brief, sharp maximum lasting only a few hours. For this reason, many stargazing guides refer to this display as particularly elusive. However, in 2025, viewing conditions favor North Americans, particularly those living west of the Mississippi.

THE meteors actually radiate from the northeast corner of the constellation Boötes, the Shepherd, so one might expect them to be called the “Boötides”. But by the end of the 18th century, there was a different constellation called Quadrans Muralis, the “wall or mural quadrant” (an astronomical instrument). This is a long-obsolete star pattern, invented in 1795 by JJ Lalande to commemorate the instrument used to observe the stars in its catalog. Adolphe Quetelet of the Brussels Observatory discovered the shower in the 1830s, and soon afterward it was noticed by several astronomers in Europe and America.

Thus, they were baptized “Quadrantids” and even though the constellation from which these meteors appear to radiate no longer exists, the shower’s original nickname still endures today.

Remains of a long-dead comet

At its peak, 60 to 120 meteors per hour are expected to be seen during the 2025 Quadrantid meteor shower.

However, the Quadrantid influx reaches an abrupt peak: six hours before and after the maximum, these blue meteors only appear at half their highest frequency. This means that the particle flow is narrow – perhaps derived relatively recently from a small comet.

Actually, in 2003, NASA astronomer Peter Jenniskensfound a near-Earth asteroid (2003 EH1) that appeared to be in the correct orbit to form the Quadrantids. Some astronomers believe that this asteroid is actually a piece of an old “extinct” comet; possibly a comet that was recorded by Chinese, Korean and Japanese observers during the years 1490-91. Perhaps this comet broke up and some of its pieces became the meteoroids that make up the Quadrantid stream.

a bright streak of light crosses a starry sky

A Quadrantid meteor streaks across the sky over the Beypazari district of Ankara, Turkey, January 5, 2022. (Image credit: Fatih Kurt/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

When and where to look

In 2025, a moderately strong display of Quadrantid meteors is likely over North America, particularly over the western half of the continent. According to Margaret Campbell-Brown and Peter Brown in the 2025 edition of the Observer’s Manual from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, peak activity is expected around 10 a.m. Eastern Time or 7 a.m. Pacific Time (3 p.m. GMT). Just before dawn, the radiant of this shower – from which the meteors appear to emanate – will rise into the dark northeast sky.

It is also the time that the aurora side of Earth is facing forward into our face at 18.5 miles (30 km) per second around the sun. This extra speed also means that our upper atmosphere hits more meteors and hits them harder, making them brighter, unlike the meteors that come at us from behind during the evening.

Those living in the eastern half of North America will see the “Quads” increase in intensity before dusk and morning sunrise occur, with a single observer likely to see rates of 20 to 40 per day. hour. For those living in the western half of North America, the frequency of meteors will likely be even higher, perhaps even approaching their all-time peak of 60 to 120 per hour.

With no moonlight, this could turn out to be one of the best meteor shows of the year.

an illustration of the night sky showing meteors coming from the constellation Bouvier

An illustration of the night sky, showing the radiant, or point of origin, of the Quadrantids meteor shower. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night)

But make sure you bundle up!

Finally – and we’ve touched on this before, but it should definitely be brought up again: it’s likely that your local weather will be more suitable for taking a hot bath rather than a meteor shower. And indeed, at this time of year, meteor watching can be a long and cold activity. You wait and wait for the meteors to appear. When they don’t appear right away, and you’re cold and uncomfortable, you won’t be looking for meteors for very long!

Therefore, make sure you are warm and comfortable. Hot cocoa or coffee can ease the cold and provide a mild stimulus. It’s even better if you can observe with friends. This way you can cover more of the sky.

So bundle up, good luck and enjoy this(er) meteor show!

If you want to try your hand at photographing the Quadrantids or any other meteor shower, check out our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers. And if you need new imaging equipment, consider our best cameras for astrophotography And best lenses for astrophotography.

Joe Rao is an instructor and guest lecturer at New York University Hayden Planetarium. He writes on astronomy for Natural history reviewTHE Farmers’ Almanac and other publications.