Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2022 is most active on the night of January 2 to January 3, or to January 4.
Either way, these dates should provide for great viewing conditions, considering that January 2 is also the date of a new moon. This means that the moon will appear absent from the night sky, providing a perfectly dark background for the fiery display.
As far as knowing which direction to look in goes, experienced astronomers can locate the shower’s “radiant,” which is the part of the sky it appears to originate from. The easiest way to do this is to locate the right angle between the Big Dipper and the star Arcturus. Even if you’re just a casual observer, however, you should have no problem seeing the meteor shower, as it should be very bright across the entire sky when it begins. It’s mostly a matter of settling in for some stargazing when darkness falls and waiting for the show to begin.
The Quadrantid meteor shower’s name is a good clue about where to look for it in the night sky. It was originally named after the constellation Quadrans Muralis, which is situated in the part of the sky the shower tends to pass through. Never heard of Quadrans Muralis? There’s a good reason for that.
Unfortunately, the constellation didn’t make the cut in 1922 when the International Astronomical Union drew up a list of 88 official constellations. Quadrans Muralis was first located by a French astronomer named Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande in the 1790s and, at least for a while, had enough staying power that the Quadrantid meteor shower was named after it.
Ultimately, Quadrans Muralis joined a list of other forgotten constellations like “The Goose” and “George’s Harp.” By that time, though, the meteor shower had already been named, and nobody seemed concerned enough to go through the trouble of renaming it.
While locating Quadrans Muralis may no longer be the easiest way to zone in on the area of the sky where the meteor shower appears, there are several other better-known sky markers that can point you in the right direction.
