Solar Eclipse and Quadrantid Shower - Jan 4 2011

Penwith will be one of the best places in Britain to witness Tuesday's solar eclipse and the annual Quadrantid meteor shower, experts say. The region is expected – weather permitting – to be able to see around 70 per cent of the sun being obscured as the sun rises on Tuesday morning, only hours after witnessing up to 100 meteors per hour in the night sky.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is due to reach maximum late Monday (Jan. 3) or early Tuesday (Jan. 4). The moon will be in its "new" phase – when it's dark – and poses no concern of interfering with the meteor display.

This year, the most favorably placed skywatchers are expected to be in Europe and Central Asia. If predictions of the shower's peak come true, viewers there may spot 50 or 100 meteors per hour.

When and where to look

According to British meteor astronomer Alastair McBeath, the peak of the 2011 Quadrantids might occur roughly between 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) on Jan. 3 and 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Jan. 4. Most almanacs are highlighting 8 p.m. EST Jan. 3 (0100 GMT Jan. 4) as the "most likely" time, because that is about when Earth is expected to pass through the densest part of this meteor stream, based on observations dating back to 1992.

But McBeath points out that other investigations have found that the Quadrantid rates can vary from year to year, so that its peak timing may not be consistent.

If the 0100 prediction is correct, then the best chances of seeing the peak of the 2011 Quadrantids would be for Europe east to central Asia, where the radiant will be rising in the northeast during the morning hours of Jan. 4