Tailor Made Holidays in The Arctic: In the News

Meteor shower set to peak: 04-01-2008

An impressive meteor shower is set to peak today with more than 100 shooting stars visible in good conditions.

Holiday makers in the Arctic will not be alone in watching the Quadrantid meteor shower as a group of scientists are heading to the Arctic to watch the display themselves.

The Quadrantids were created by Earth crossing a section of space that was traversed by a comet which left a trail of dust from its tail.

Travelling at huge speeds the grains of dust enter the Earth's atmosphere and begin to glow brightly as they burn meaning they can be seen from great distances away.

Peter Jenniskens, a scientist with NASA's Ames Research Centre is heading to the Arctic to find out more about the light show.

By tracking where and when the shower peaks he will determine if it is young and according to discovery.com this will show him which comet they came from.

Holiday makers will also be able to see the meteor show over Asian countries.


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