Overview
- The American Meteor Society forecasts the 2026 peak between 21:00 and 00:00 UTC on January 3–4, a timing that best suits observers in Asia.
- Moonlight from the January 3 full moon is expected to wash out many faint meteors, with predicted visible rates near 10–20 per hour in Asia, about 10 in Europe, and less than 10 in North America under clear skies.
- The Quadrantids are active roughly December 28 to January 12, yet strong activity is confined to a sharply defined window of about six hours.
- Best visual viewing comes from dark, rural northern locations in the pre‑dawn hours facing the northeastern sky, while southern latitudes will see little activity.
- The shower originates from asteroid 2003 EH1, likely an extinct comet, and observers can still track meteors by radio forward‑scatter regardless of clouds, daylight, or moonlight, with good detection windows near 04:00 and 13:00 local time on January 3 and 4.