Winter Solstice, Quadrantids Meteor Shower

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From: Alejandra León-Castellá (leonale@racsa.co.cr)
Date: Fri Dec 20 2002 - 07:44:15 PST 

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 09:44:15 -0600
From: Alejandra León-Castellá <leonale@racsa.co.cr>
Subject: Winter Solstice, Quadrantids Meteor Shower
Message-id: <3E033ACF.ED958EF1@racsa.co.cr>

Hi everyone,

Here is just a reminder on two visible astronomical phenomena in the
near future.

WINTER SOLSTICE (Northern Hemisphere)
The time when the sun reaches its maximum position south, can easily
be observed at sunset and sunrise. (Never see the sun directly!!).
Universal Time: Dec. 22, 01:14
In Costa Rica this will happen on Dec 21, at 7:14 pm.

Here is a link on Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day from the US
Naval Observatory.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

I always think of the pendulum model for the movement of the sun in
the horizon. When it reaches its maximum outward position it is
traveling slow, when it is passing its center line, it is traveling
fastest. So if you want to document it with pictures, you can be off
for a day or so on the solstices, it won't change much. But you HAVE
to be exact on the Equinoxes.

We have 2 web pages on this subject in Spanish.
Equinoccios y Solsticios
http://cientec.or.cr/astronomia/equinoccios.html
Equinoccio desde el Cerro de Chapultepec,
http://cientec.or.cr/astronomia/chapultepec.html

QUADRANTIDS Meteor Shower
Named after a defunct constellation, this shower peaks on Jan 4, O UT.
For us in Costa Rica it will take place too early, at 6pm on Friday 3,
and the radiant will take another 6 hours to be visible. The Radiant
is in Bootes, surrounded by Draco, Hercules and the Big Dipper.

But it is a Friday night, almost Moon less and here most people will
be on vacations. Many flood the beaches, so it is conveniently dark to
watch even if the peak has passed. Besides, all the easily visible
planets are out. Except for Mercury. Saturn is very close to earth now
and tilted so you can see its rings better.
http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/swpod/19dec02/Chester.jpg
Jupiter, Venus and Mars are also visible during the night.

The International Meteor Organization - IMO- already has the 2003
Meteor Shower Calendar up:
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal03.html#Quadrantids

Enjoy!!
Alejandra
10°N, 84°W 

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