Darwin, Australia
Quadrantids 2027 from Darwin
The Quadrantids peak on the night of Sunday, January 3. From Darwin the best time to watch is the last dark hour, before about 5:35 AM, when the radiant is low on the horizon in the northeast. Under a dark sky that means up to about 20 meteors an hour. From inside the city you will see far fewer.
The night at a glance
- Gets dark
- 8:06 PM
- Radiant rises
- 4:16 AM
- Best time
- The last hour before 5:35 AM
- Light again
- 5:35 AM
- Moon
- 15% lit, rises around 3:16 AM
Times are local to Darwin, worked out for the city centre. Dark means the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon.
Where to look
Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. They streak away from the radiant, which sits low on the horizon in the northeast at its best. Face that way but keep your gaze wide. Give your eyes twenty minutes to adjust and keep your phone in your pocket. The darker your spot, the more you will see.
About the Quadrantids
The Quadrantids are active from late December to mid January. The meteors are debris from asteroid 2003 EH1 and hit the atmosphere at about 41 km per second. At the peak, a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead would show about 120 an hour. Real counts are lower.