Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2019 January 9
                                      [2]
                                 Quadrantids
    Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Daniel Lopez (El Cielo de Canarias [4] )

Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation [5] , the Quadrantid Meteor
Shower [6] is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers
It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early morning hours of January 4. The
shower's radiant on the sky [7] lies within the old, astronomically obsolete
constellation Quadrans Muralis [8] . That position is situated near the
boundaries of the modern constellations Hercules, Bootes, and Draco. About 30
Quadrantid meteors can be counted in this skyscape composed of digital frames
recorded in dark and moonless skies between 2:30am and local dawn. The
shower's radiant is rising just to the right of the Canary Island of
Tenerife's Teide volcano, and just below the familiar stars of the Big Dipper
on the northern sky. A likely source of the dust stream that produces
Quadrantid meteors was identified in 2003 as an asteroid [9] . Look carefully
and you can also spot a small, telltale greenish coma above the volcanic peak
and near the top of the frame. That's the 2018 Christmas visitor to planet
Earth's skies, Comet Wirtanen [10] .

                      Tomorrow's picture: southern sails

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [22] (MTU [23] ) & Jerry Bonnell [24]
                                  (UMCP [25] )
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                           & Michigan Tech. U. [31]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1901/Cuadrantidas30estelasDLopez.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] http://www.elcielodecanarias.com/
  [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constell...
  [6] https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/
everything-you-need-to-know-quadrantid-meteor-shower
  [7] ap070812.html
  [8] http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/quadrans....
  [9] http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/leonidnews47.html
  [10] ap181222.html
  [11] ap190108.html
  [12] archivepix.html
  [13] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [14] lib/aptree.html
  [15] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [16] calendar/allyears.html
  [17] /apod.rss
  [18] lib/edlinks.html
  [19] lib/about_apod.html
  [20] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [21] ap190110.html
  [22] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [23] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [25] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [26] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [27] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [28] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [29] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [30] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [31] http://www.mtu.edu/

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