See in the new year with the Quadrantids meteor shower. Although the peak of the shower does not arrive until the night of 3-4 January, meteor activity can stretch for a couple of weeks around this point, lasting until 10 January. The peak of the Quadrantids can be spectacular but quick, lasting just a few hours most years. If you catch it though, on average you can expect to see some 100 meteors an hour. The meteors are usually faint however and only really visible from the northern hemisphere, because the radiant is located quite far in the northern sky. The chart shows the view looking north from London at midnight on the night of 3-4 January 2020.
Meteors are usually the dust given out by comets but the Quadrantids are associated with the asteroid 2003 EH1. It is possible that 2003 EH1 is an extinct comet. When looking for meteors, do not look at the radiant directly. Look at the sky around the radiant because the meteors can appear in any direction.
