Scientists believe that the Quadrantid meteors are what remains from a since-smashed comet that shattered centuries ago. The Quadrantids meteor shower takes its name from an extinct constellation. Adolphe Quetelet of Brussels Observatory discovered the shower in the 1830s, and shortly afterward it was noted by several other astronomers in Europe and America. This winter sky show has since dazzled skywatchers around the world - the latest event taking place early on Jan. 4, 2012.
This image is a false-color composite of meteors in the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., on the night of Jan. 3-4, 2012. These represent a combination of Quadrantid and non-Quadrantid meteors.
Unlike the better-known Perseid and Geminid meteor showers, the Quadrantids only last a few hours. But they
Waiting for the Quadrantids, January 4, 2011 in Miacatl
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center recorded these two simultaneous Quadrantid meteors on Jan. 4 at approximately 5 a.m. EST. Scientists estimate that the meteors were moving at 92,000 mph as they flitted across the field of view in just over a second.
Black-and-white composite Quadrantid meteor image from the night of Jan. 3-4, 2012, seen in the skies over Huntsville, Ala.
In this image provided by the Tellus Science Museum, a Quandrantid meteor passes over Cartersville, Ga., at 5:30 a.m., EST., Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2011,. The image was taken by a NASA fireball camera atop the Tellus Science Museum. The museum is part of a national NASA network of cameras aimed at tracking fireball meteors, which are brighter than the planet Venus.
Quandrantid meteors photographed from Window Rock, AZ.
This killer shot was taken by amateur photographer Roberto Porto, who photographed the meteors flashing across the skies over the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on Jan. 4, 2012 For more, see this gallery over at Space.com