Comets and Meteors for the New Year

On Space.com, Joe Rao talks about comet Tuttle’s return, and reminds us that comet Holmes (see here and here) is still worth a look. In fact, he gives a little bit of history of Tuttle, which is worth a read.

He also tells us, in another story, about the Quadrantid meteor shower. The what? I hear you cry. Well:

The meteors are named after the obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis, the Mural or Wall Quadrant (an astronomical instrument), depicted in some 19th-century star atlases roughly midway between the end of the Handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars marking the head of the constellation Draco. (The International Astronomical Union phased out Quadrans Muralis in 1922.)

(Cartoon shaking of fist… “Curse you, IAU!!!”) (Er…. remember Pluto.)

This is not the most well known of meteor showers, but this year it was set to have […] Click to continue reading this post