This Monday and Tuesday there will be a shower of stars in Portugal – NiT
This Monday and Tuesday there will be a rain of stars in Portugal
The phenomenon will be most visible about an hour before sunrise, when the meteors will be at their brightest.
This Monday and Tuesday, January 2nd and 3rd, there will be a shower of stars in the country, in the first phenomenon of its kind in 2023. The quadrantids, as they are called, are part of the most important showers of stars of the year, being some of the most intense, lagging behind, for example, the Perseids that will fall with greater intensity on August 11th.
This week’s phenomena can also be easily seen thanks to clear sky forecasts. “Although the normal period for the occurrence of the quadrants is between December 26th and January 16th, the forecast is that the peak occurred during the early hours of the night from today to tomorrow. [2 para 3 de janeiro] and the next [3 para 4]”, tells “Público” the astronomer Máximo Ferreira, director of the Centro Ciência Viva de Constância.
During these nights the number of meteors can be between 60 and 200 per hour and they are quite bright, being able to surpass the brightness of Jupiter, which is the brightest star that participated in seeing with the naked eye. This planet is often visible from sunset to just before midnight.
To be able to see the first shower of stars of the year you will have to look towards the constellation Big Dipper, more specifically for the tail. “If it is true that we can see quadrantids in the early hours of the night, the truth is that the region where the meteors seem to come from only appear on the horizon, to the northeast, around two in the morning, the moment from which the greatest impact will be observed. number of light strokes”, adds the expert.
Those who stay up later, close to sunrise, will be able to see an even better phenomenon, because the moon, close to the Full Moon phase, ends up erasing the less intense meteors, thanks to the strong moonlight. The best time to watch the shower of stars is an hour before sunrise. The sky will also be darker as the moon begins to fade before another day begins.
The next shower of stars will be on May 4th and July 28th. In addition to the 11th of August, which we have already mentioned, this phenomenon is repeated later on the 21st of October and, finally, on the 13th of December.