From a dark location, expect at most a dozen shooting stars per hour radiating from the northeast sky, just off the handle of the Big Dipper. This is the site of Quadrans Muralis, a constellation no longer recognized by astronomers but which gave the Quadrantids their name.

By the next morning, Thursday, January 7, the moon will have sunk beside Saturn and be separated by only 4 degrees. Adding to the celestial beauty, the bright orange star Antares, in the constellation Scorpius, should be visible to the lower right of Saturn.

Europeans will be able to see the pair at their tightest, when they are just 5 arc-seconds apart, at 4 a.m. GMT. By the time the planets become visible in the