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---
title: The 2015 Quadrantid Meteor Shower Livestream
description: Best view is expected to be Saturday at 9pm ET and Sunday morning in the northern hemisphere
canonical: https://time.com/3652806/quadrantids-meteor-shower-2015/
author: Olivia B. Waxman
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2015-01-03T18:31:11.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:15:40.119Z
article:section: Science
og:title: How to See the First Meteor Shower of 2015
og:description: The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Saturday night and Sunday morning
og:url: https://time.com/3652806/quadrantids-meteor-shower-2015/
og:site_name: TIME
og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e30de27fda5796f/698777fdf887dcb49ee894ee/rtx172k1.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
og:image:width: 1200
og:image:height: 675
og:image:alt: A meteor streaks past stars during the annual Quadrantid meteor shower in Qingdao
og:type: article
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:title: How to See the First Meteor Shower of 2015
twitter:description: The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Saturday night and Sunday morning
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e30de27fda5796f/698777fdf887dcb49ee894ee/rtx172k1.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e30de27fda5796f/698777fdf887dcb49ee894ee/rtx172k1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# How to Watch the First Meteor Shower of 2015


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Jan 3, 2015 6:31 PM UTC

![A meteor streaks past stars during the annual Quadrantid meteor shower in Qingdao](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e30de27fda5796f/698777fdf887dcb49ee894ee/rtx172k1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

A long exposure shows the 2014 Quadrantid meteor shower, as seen in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, Jan. 4, 2014.

A long exposure shows the 2014 Quadrantid meteor shower, as seen in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, Jan. 4, 2014.Reuters

![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Jan 3, 2015 6:31 PM UTC

Stargazers are preparing this weekend for the first meteor shower of 2015.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to be most visible in the northern hemisphere around 9 p.m. ET Saturday night and then early Sunday morning.

“The reason the peak is so short is due to the shower’s thin stream of particles and the fact that the Earth crosses the stream at a perpendicular angle,” NASA [explained](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/quadrantids.cfm).

Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, [told NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/quick-quadrantids-2015s-first-meteor-shower-hits-brief-peak-n278571) that stargazers may only see 10-20 meteors per hour (in clear, dark skies) because of the moon’s glare.

Quadrantids are “caused by fragments of a comet that broke up in the recent past,” [according to](http://www.imo.net/quadrantids2014) the International Meteor Organization. “Every year in the final days of December and the first two weeks of January the Earth crosses the stream of debris from the fragmented comet.”

The shower’s name comes from “Quadrans Muralis,” a constellation that does not exist anymore, discovered by French astronomer Jerome Lalande in 1795.

You can watch a livestream of the spectacle via the Slooh Community Observatory’s [website.](http://live.slooh.com/)

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