NEW YORK (AP) — The year's first supermoon and meteor shower will sync up in January skies, but the light from one may dim the other.
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the American Meteor Society. In dark skies during the peak, skygazers typically see around 25 meteors per hour, but this time they'll likely glimpse less than 10 per hour due to light from Saturday's supermoon.
“The biggest enemy of enjoying a meteor shower is the full moon,” said Mike Shanahan, planetarium director at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey.
Meteor showers happen when speedy space rocks collide with Earth’s atmosphere, burning up and leaving fiery tails in their wake — the end of a “shooting star.” A handful of meteors are visible on any given night, but predictable showers appear annually when Earth passes through dense streams of cosmic debris.
Supermoons occur when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes it appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA. That difference can be tough to notice with the naked eye.
Supermoons, like all full moons, are visible in clear skies everywhere that it's night. The Quadrantids, on the other hand, can be seen mainly from the Northern Hemisphere. Both can be glimpsed without any special equipment.
To spot the Quadrantids, venture out in the early evening away from city lights and watch for fireballs before the moon crashes the party, said Jacque Benitez with the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences. Skygazers can also try looking during early dawn hours on Sunday.
Wait for your eyes to get used to the darkness, and don’t look at your phone. The space rocks will look like fast-moving white dots and appear over the whole sky.
Meteor showers are named for the constellation where the fireballs appear to come from. The Quadrantids — space debris from the asteroid 2003 EH1 — are named for a constellation that's no longer recognized.
The next major meteor shower, called the Lyrids, is slotted for April.
Supermoons happen a few times a year and come in groups, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the moon’s elliptical orbit. Saturday night’s event ends a four-month streak that started in October. There won't be another supermoon until the end of 2026.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This 1825 etching provided by the Library of Congress shows an astronomical chart depicting Bootes the Ploughman holding a spear, a sickle, and two dogs, Asterion and Chara, on leashes, a quadrant, and the hair of Berenice forming the constellations. (Sidney Hall/Library of Congress via AP)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Easter is around the corner, and it's time to start thinking about how to decorate your eggs.
Whether you're dying eggs for your table spread or planning to hide them for an egg hunt, it's important to follow food safety guidelines to minimize germs and maximize your egg quality.
Eggs are remarkably long lasting, so there needn't be a giant rush to eat them.
“Stores usually do turn over eggs pretty quickly, so the recommendations is you should consume eggs three to five weeks after you purchase them,” said Kara Lynch, food safety educator with Michigan State University Extension.
There is also a benefit in letting eggs age just a bit, as older eggs can be easier to peel. That's because eggs shrink over time within the shell, creating an air pocket between the egg and the shell.
Egg processors clean eggs before they reach store shelves, but it also is important to thoroughly cook eggs to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, especially salmonella. That bacteria lives naturally in the gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts of chickens, said Kimberly Baker, associate extension specialist at Clemson University.
To cook your eggs, place them in a saucepan, fill it with water and bring it to a boil. After that, put the lid on, turn the heat off and let it sit for about 12 minutes. Some also favor turning down the heat and simmering eggs.
You can vary the time in the hot water depending on a desire for harder boiled or slightly creamier eggs, but the yolk should be pretty solid to be safe. Boiling them for too long can risk creating green sulfur development on the outside of the yolk.
After that, Don Schaffner, food science department chair at Rutgers University, said there are two options.
You can run your eggs under cold water to reduce the temperature. From there, you can color them right away or place them back in the fridge until you're ready. Or, after you've boiled them, you can let them air dry until they've cooled.
The boiling process sanitizes the eggs, and as long as they are kept out of water, Schaffner said, they will remain safe to eat.
“You’ve boiled the egg, you’ve gotten rid of any bacteria that might be in the egg. And now you’ve air-cooled it, right? So it’s going to cool more slowly, it’s probably going to cook more,” he said. “But most importantly, you don’t have to worry about any bacteria from the water getting internalized into the egg.”
Either artificial or natural food dye is OK as long as the dye label says it's food grade. For those keeping track, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been updating its guidance and regulations regarding certain dyes.
And no, it's not a problem if the dye seeps through the shell.
“Eggs kind of naturally have their own abilities to absorb only so much,” Baker said.
As you're decorating the eggs and have the eggs outside, she suggested keeping your eggs in an ice bath, so they can stay at a cooler temperature while you're decorating.
Eggs should generally be kept at or below 40 degrees (4.4 degrees Celsius) to minimize the risk of contaminants.
Cooked eggs that weren't air-cooled should spend no more than two hours at room temperature. And that's cumulative, including the time spent decorating and the time spent hiding during the Easter egg hunt.
But if it's particularly warm, then that two-hour rule may be shortened to one hour, Lynch said.
Hard boiled eggs are generally good for about a week in the fridge.
Be careful with your eggs as you handle them.
One of the biggest concerns is making sure your eggs haven't cracked during an Easter egg hunt, making them vulnerable to contaminants. And once the egg has been hard boiled, there's no way to kill bacteria that get inside, Baker said.
“We don’t want to be putting them in the soil or in lawns where pets have gone to the bathroom,” she said.
Whether the eggs are hidden outdoors or in a corner of your home, you should rinse them in cool water before you peel them. And wash your hands, too, just in case the eggs have picked up something.
If the Easter egg hunt means your eggs will be at room temperature for longer than two hours, experts recommended using plastic eggs for the hunt instead of real ones to minimize food safety risk.
“If it’s an outdoor Easter egg hunt at any time, I would say go with the plastic eggs and be safe,” Baker said. “And use your dyed Easter eggs as your centerpiece on your table or your buffet, and enjoy them that way.”
FILE - Painted Easter eggs hang from an Easter Tree in Saalfeld, central Germany, March 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)
