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Meteor shower · January

Quadrantids 2026

The year opens with one of its strongest showers, but the peak is short: the best rates last only a few hours.

Peak nightJan 2–3
Rate at peakup to ~72/hour
Moon at peak100% lit
Best time from London00:45–06:00
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The Quadrantids from London

Times for London, United Kingdom

On the night of Jan 2–3, the radiant climbs to 67° in the east while it’s dark in London. A 100%-lit Moon is up through the best hours, and its light will hide the fainter meteors. The best window here is about 00:45–06:00.

  1. 18:06Astronomical darkness begins
  2. 00:45Best window begins (moonlit)
  3. 06:02Dawn twilight begins
0°30°60°90°18:0021:0000:0003:0006:00RadiantMoon (100%)
Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. Traced backward, their trails meet at the radiant; the higher it is, the more you’ll see.

How to watch

Because the peak is so sharp, timing matters more than for any other shower: if the peak falls in your daytime, rates the night before or after can be much lower. The radiant is low in the evening and climbs through the night, so the hours before dawn are usually best. It’s mainly a Northern Hemisphere shower.

The radiant is in northern Boötes, between the handle of the Big Dipper and the head of Draco, in a patch of sky that once held the obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. Up to about 72 meteors an hour at the peak under ideal skies (the zenithal hourly rate). The shower is active from about 1 Jan to 5 Jan.

Get as far from streetlights as you can and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Every glance at a bright phone screen resets that, so keep it away or use a red night mode.

Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as possible, looking about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Meteors can appear anywhere; the ones far from the radiant have longer trails.

You need no equipment. Binoculars and telescopes show only a tiny patch of sky, so they make you miss meteors. Dress warmly, even in summer, and plan to watch for at least an hour: meteors come in clumps and lulls.

Where do they come from?

The Quadrantids are thought to come from the small body 2003 EH1, which may be the remains of a comet that broke up a few centuries ago. Earth crosses the narrow, dense core of this debris stream at a steep angle, which is why the peak is so brief.

Medium-speed meteors, often bluish, with occasional bright fireballs.

Active
1–5 Jan
Peak
around 3 Jan 2026
Rate at peak (ZHR)
~72 per hour
Speed
41 km/s
Parent body
asteroid 2003 EH1
Radiant
Bootes

Calendar

Every major shower’s peak in 2026. Dates are approximate (±1 day) and given in UTC.

Questions

Why is the Quadrantid peak so short?
Earth cuts across the densest part of the debris stream almost at right angles, so it passes through in a matter of hours rather than days.
Where does the name come from?
From Quadrans Muralis, a constellation drawn in the 18th century and later dropped. The radiant lies in that area, now part of Boötes.
How many meteors will I really see?
Fewer than the peak rate. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) assumes a perfectly dark sky with the radiant straight overhead. With some light pollution, moonlight or a low radiant, a fraction of that is typical.
What is the radiant?
The point in the sky the meteors seem to come from. It’s a perspective effect: the dust travels in parallel paths, like snowflakes seen from a moving car. The higher the radiant, the more meteors you see.
Do I need a telescope or binoculars?
No. Your eyes are best because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. Optical aid narrows your view far too much.
Know the best hour for your sky.SkyMate can remind you when the radiant is up and the sky is dark where you are.Join the waitlist

Sources: Global Meteor Network (activity and peak solar longitudes, CC BY 4.0); Moorhead, Clements & Vida 2022 (radiants and speeds, CC BY 4.0); NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (typical peak rates; no NASA endorsement implied). Peak dates and positions computed by SkyMate. Data & Licences

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