There Will Be an Awesome Light Show in the Sky Tonight, but Will We See It?
The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is usually active between the end of December and the second week of January. The peak nights for viewing are January 3rd and 4th.
According to Time and Date, in the Binghamton area, we could see up to 120 meteors per hour.
Now there are some factors to take into consideration here. First will it be too cloudy over Binghamton to see the Quandrantid? I reached out to Brian Schroeder WBNG Storm Track 12 Meteorologist and asked him if he thought we would be able to see the meteors or if the cloud cover would block our view. (Keep scrolling for more)
Brian said "partly cloudy skies will carry over into the evening. We might wake up to clear skies". He went on to say "with partly cloudy skies, you should be able to see something. Not ideal, but better than overcast".
Okay, I'll take that. For the best viewing conditions, you will want to be in a dark area away from street lights. Obviously, the darker the area you are in, the brighter the stars and the meteors will appear. It might take your eyes up to 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
I don't know about you, but I love this stuff. I wish it was a warm summer night and I was sitting in a very dark area with some cold beers. I would be staring at the sky for hours.
When I was a kid, I thought about studying astronomy when I grew up. I quickly learned that it was very complicated so I decided not to follow that path. But, I still love seeing pictures of space and just watching the stars.
And meteor showers are one of the coolest things ever in my opinion.
[via Time and Date]