The first remarkable astronomical event of 2026 will take place on the night of January 2 to 3. It’s the Quadrantids, one of the most spectacular shooting star showers.
The year begins with the Quadrantids, a stream of meteors that radiates in the constellation Bootes, near the Big Dipper. The maximum current occurs on the 3rd or 4th of January. It is one of the strongest meteor streams, producing between 100 and 140 meteors per hour during the peak. The meteors of this current are bright and very fast.
The Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of the year, form when Earth crosses a trail of dust and rock left by comet 2003 EH1 (or asteroid 1995 QM1), meteorites (small particles) entering our atmosphere at high speed, burning up and creating bright streaks across the sky, best visible on January 3-4, 2026, with a maximum of up to 140 meteors/hour, to morning.
For astronomy and photography enthusiasts, the Quadrantids are known as a spectacular but difficult phenomenon to capture. Until now, shooting shooting stars required professional equipment, complex settings and a lot of technical expertise. For most people, magic remained a moment to be admired, not captured.
The Quadrantids are among the most intense, but also the most difficult to capture, meteor showers of the year. Their peak activity is short and highly concentrated, and successful observations depend on clear, dark skies as well as quick reactions. The strong contrasts, unpredictable movements and the fraction-second duration of each meteor have turned this phenomenon into a major challenge for night photography, long accessible only to professional cameras.
Shooting stars can be seen with the naked eye and no astronomical instruments are needed to observe them.
The most important shooting star showers occur in April, August, November and December. The months of February and March are not very good for observing meteors, because they are not rich currents.
On January 2, 2026, the Earth is at its shortest distance from the Sun, i.e. at perihelion. It will happen at 15:51, when Tera will be “only” 147,093,166 km from the Sun.
