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Glite Dictionary
🌠 Meteor shower ☄️ A meteor
Quadrantid

Quadrantid

9.9
A meteor seen during the annual January shower called Quadrantid
  • noun
  • /ˈkwɒdrəntɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cuadrántido
  • Astronomers think Quadrantid meteors began life as debris ejected from a near-Earth asteroid designated 2003 EH 1.
  • Quadrantid meteor

Examples

  • Observers eagerly awaited the peak of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower to experience the dazzling display.

  • Each January, stargazers prepare for the brilliant sight of Quadrantid meteors illuminating the dark winter sky.

  • Quadrantid meteor shower peaks; Jupiter passes 5 degrees north of Antares, 8 p.m. PST. The Moon passes 0.9 degrees north of Saturn, 10 a.m. PST.

    Academic text (2006)

  • During the Quadrantid meteor shower, many Quadrantid meteors can be seen streaking across the night sky.

Synonyms

meteor
vsQuadrantid
  • Specialized
300 4.1

A small rock from space that burns up as a bright streak in the sky

is part of a specific annual early January shower, not any such space object

Surface Forms

Quadrantid singular
Quadrantids plural

Morphology

Quadrantid = quadrant (opaque) = quadrant + id

The suffix '-id' indicating membership in a meteor group is not a productive or familiar derivation for average learners, and the name traces to the obsolete constellation Quadrans rather than the everyday meaning of 'quadrant'.

Etymology

Quadrantid comes from the name of an old small group of stars, Quadrans Muralis, and the root quadrant means 'a quarter' or 'four'. So a Quadrantid is a meteor that appears to come from that 'quarter' of the sky, which is why we use this name.