A meteor as seen from space.

Insomniacs, third-shift workers, early risers, and telescope jockeys will be getting a treat this Wednesday.  According to NASA, Wednesday between 3 and 5 AM will be the first meteor shower of 2012.  Dubbed the Quadrantids, after the extinct constellation where the meteors originate from, it will be one of the biggest and best meteor shows of 2012, as well as the first meteor shower of 2012.

“They’re one of the more active meteor showers of the year, but they’re not seen by many people,” said Bill Cooke, director of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  “It’s very cold around that time, so people don’t want to go outside.  It’s possible that 2003EH1 was seen by the Chinese back in the 1490s as a comet, so something the Chinese saw over five centuries ago is probably the parent of the Quadrantids.”

Just in case you needed another meteor shower name to learn to go alongside the Leonids, Geminids, and Perseids, here are the Quadrantids.  Hey, meteors are meteors, and I’ll take all the free, visible space light shows I can get, no matter their origin.  Just make sure you bundle up when you go out to watch the show, otherwise your entertainment will come with a side of frostbite.

Tags: The Quadrantids,  Quadrantids meteor shower, NASA, Bill Cooke, first meteor shower of 2012, Quadrantids meteor shower 2012,  Quadrantids meteor shower most visible between 3 and 5 am on Wednesday morning, meteor showers, meteors, astronomy, meteor shower of 2012, space, 2003EH1, Huntsville, Alabama, Marshall Space Flight Center, Meteoroid Environment Office

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]