For thousands of years, people have believed that a shooting star can grant wishes.
If this turns out to be true, all you have to do is start your wishlist now, because hundreds of them will be gracing the skies tonight.
That's when one of Earth's most active meteor showers will reach its peak, says Tor E. of the Norwegian Meteorological Network. Asleson says.
– Tonight you can see the Quadrantides, the meteor shower that peaks on January 1st and 2nd. It can produce some meteors, he tells TalkBladet, and can be seen mainly in the northern part of the sky.
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– Find a dark place
Aslesen encourages those who want to see a shower of stars to find a dark place away from the light pollution of big cities.
– To see the crowd, you must be in a dark place. There may be some disruption due to the moon rising at 1 pm today. But luckily it won't be that much since it's a crescent moon.
– Find a Dark Place: Tor E says it's important to keep the island up tonight. Aslesen says. Photo: Private
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He also says there will be more meteors after midnight.
– After midnight, the probability of seeing such a meteor shower increases. That's when most of them hit the ground running, says Aslesen.
– So you don't want to see them in big cities like Oslo?
– Maybe it doesn't look like it, but at night it clears up a bit, so you never know. The mob also comes when it's really cold, so you have to be prepared to stand outside in sub-zero temperatures, he laughs.
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– The remains of a dead comet
While countless disaster movies show meteors destroying cities and entire continents, they usually burn up in Earth's atmosphere, says Aslesen.
– Most meteor showers are associated with comets. The quadrants are associated with a type of dead comet, i.e. what is left after the ice has melted. Then there is only a core of stone that releases pebbles. They burn up in our atmosphere, creating such meteor showers.
– How often do meteor showers like this happen?
– There are many of them during the year. Many comets have orbited the Sun, and some of them have left such tracks and dropped material into orbit around the Sun, Aslesen says.
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