This weekend offers a great chance to kick off 2025's stargazing with a bang, as the year's first meteor shower is at its best, with the Moon nicely out of the way.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is active from 28 December to 12 January, and its activity peaks at 16:00 UT on Friday 3 January.
It's a decent meteor shower, too with 120 meteors per hour quoted as its zenithal hourly rate.
For the full picture, read The Sky at Night presenter Pete Lawrence's fantastic guide to the Quadrantid meteor shower, and scroll down for top tips on how to see a Quadrantid tonight
Quadrantid meteor shower tonight - top tips
Wrap up warm and gather fellow stargazing friends: it could be a long, cold night!
Grab a flask of a hot drink and a reclining chair (to prevent neck ache from looking up)
Get away from light pollution if possible: find somewhere nice and dark
Avoid looking at bright lights, and turn your smartphone screen red if you need to consult it
Give your eyes 20 minutes to dark-adapt before starting: you'll see more stars and more meteors
Use a star chart (above) or stargazing app to help you find the radiant, the area of the sky from which the meteors appear to originate, in northern Boötes around by Ursa Major, Draco and Hercules
Look in the area two-thirds up the sky, away from the radiant
If you happen to see a meteor shooting trailing away from the direction of the radiant, you've likely seen a Quadrantid
If you are out observing the 2025 Quadrantid meteor shower tonight or this weekend, share your experience and photos with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
