Together with the Geminids and the Perseids, the Quadrantids are among the most active swarms. However, they are characterized by a very short but abundant maximum, which is rather difficult to predict (several hours sooner or later). Quadrantids will be active from January 1st to January 5th, while we expect a maximum with ZHR 120 on the night of January 3rd to 4th. The swarm consists mainly of larger particles moving at a speed of 41.5 km/s.
The most suitable times for connections in the NE-SW axes are 9 to 16 UT, E-W are not, NW-SE 22 to 05 UT, N-S 00 to 05 and 09 to 14 UT.