Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 January 3
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                       Quadrantids over the Great Wall
                  Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Cheng Luo

   Explanation: Named for a [5]forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid
   Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere
   skygazers The shower's [6]radiant on the sky lies within the old,
   astronomically obsolete constellation [7]Quadrans Muralis. That
   location is not far from the Big Dipper, at the boundaries of the
   modern constellations Bootes and Draco. With the radiant out of the
   frame at the upper right, Quadrantid meteors streak through this night
   skyscape composed of digital frames recorded in the hours around the
   shower's peak on January 4, 2013. The last quarter moon illuminates
   rugged terrain and a section of the [8]Great Wall in Hebei Province,
   China. A likely source of the dust stream that produces Quadrantid
   meteors was identified [9]in 2003 as an asteroid. As usual, in 2020 the
   shower is expected to peak briefly on the night of January 3/4.
   [10]Meteor fans in North America can anticpate a good show to celebrate
   the new year in moonless skies before tomorrow's dawn.

     Free Presentation: [11]APOD Editor to show best astronomy images of
                  2019 -- and the decade -->tonight in NYC.
                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
     __________________________________________________________________

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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply.
              [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2001/QuadrantidsChineseGreatWall.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. mailto: star - wolf - fire [at] 163 [dot] com
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constellations
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070812.html
   7. http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/quadrans.htm
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150313.html
   9. http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/leonidnews47.html
  10. https://earthsky.org/tonight/quadrantid-meteor-shower-before-dawn-in-early-january
  11. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=40052
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200102.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200103
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200104.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/