Quadrantid Meteor Shower - January 2012

Image Details

• Nikon D7000
• 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 G
• Photoshop CS5
• 01/04/2012
• Mead, Colorado

This image shows a Quandrantid meteor track from the early morning of January 04, 2012. The region of the sky shown in the image includes Ursa Major (right) and Ursa Minor (left). The meteor track is just above the tree on the right.

Visually the Quadrantids were a bit of a disappointment this year. I saw only two meteors in four hours of observation. At the shower's peak, 12:20 AM MST, the radiant was barely above the horizon and the waxing moon obscured all but the very brightest meteors. Of the 1000 shots I took, only this one contained a meteor trail.