Technologies

Quadrantids meteor shower: How to watch the shooting star show peak tonight

It’s likely to be a good year for the meteor shower, with the potential to produce over 100 shooting stars per hour under ideal conditions.

The best meteor shower of 2022 for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere could hit within just a few days of New Year’s tonight and tomorrow morning.

The Quadrantid meteor shower hits its peak right around the first week of the year every January and offers some of the highest hourly rates of shooting stars among the major showers on the calendar. This year it comes as the moon is in its new, or darkened, phase, making the prospects even better.

Under absolutely perfect conditions, which would be something like sitting on a mountain top with clear skies, a 360-degree view and robotic eyes capable of scanning the entire dome all at once, you might be able to see up to 120 meteors per hour. That’s approaching what skywatchers might define as a meteor storm.

«The Quadrantids have the potential to be the strongest shower of the year but usually fall short due to the short length of maximum activity (six hours) and the poor weather experienced during early January,» writes the American Meteor Society.

AMS estimates seeing 25 meteors per hour is a better place to set expectations, but the Royal Astronomical Society says «observers enjoying dark skies could see 50 or more meteors an hour.»

The Quadrantids can be traced to particles left behind by the asteroid 2003 EH1, which might be an extinct comet seen in earlier centuries by astronomers, most notably over China in 1490.

Each year in late December and early January, Earth drifts through a cloud of debris associated with the near-Earth object. As tiny pebbles and motes of dust impact our atmosphere, they burn up, sometimes in spectacular fashion.

«The pieces of debris heat up due to friction with the air, and are usually destroyed in under a second at altitudes above 80 kilometers (50 miles),» reads a statement from the RAS. «The superheated air around the meteor glows briefly, and is visible from the ground as a streak of light known as a ‘shooting star.'»

The best time to try and catch the Quadrantids is ultimately going to be whenever skies are clearest and you can get far away from any urban light pollution, as these are the most important components to seeing the show. That said, if you’ve got clear, dark skies all night where you are, you might try heading out just after dusk Monday, as this will put you closer to the actual peak of activity for the meteor shower. This is also the time with the best chance of seeing bright, so-called «Earth grazer» fireballs near the horizon.

That said, just before dawn on Tuesday is also a good time to go Quadrantid hunting, because although it’s a little further removed from the shower’s peak, the area that meteors appear to emanate from will be higher in the night sky, increasing your odds of catching more.

In other words, any time you spend outside looking up Monday night or Tuesday morning is a good investment for most skywatchers.

All you need to do to see some meteors is head outside in a place with a broad view of a clear sky unspoiled by light pollution. Dress appropriately for the weather, bring snacks and plan on at least an hour for the full experience. This includes about 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust. Lie on your back on a blanket, hammock or lounge chair, relax and simply watch.

If you want to be advanced, you can orient yourself to face in the direction of the constellation Bootes, which is where Quadrantid meteors will appear to emanate outward like spokes on a wheel. Truly, though, this is not necessary and a watchful eye is really all you need to watch this long-running light show.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for the Friday, Aug. 22, Domino-Shaped Puzzle

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 22. It’s an odd one, shaped like a domino to mark the new NYT dominos game, Pips.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a doubled-up crossword puzzle, shaped like a domino. That must be the Times celebrating their new dominos puzzle, Pips, which I have yet to try. Need answers for today’s very unusual Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Places to store shovels and leaf blowers
Answer: SHEDS

5A clue: Coating for Babybel cheese
Answer: WAX

6A clue: «___ vs. Predator» (2004 sci-fi film)
Answer: ALIEN

8A clue: Streaming glitch
Answer: LAG

9A clue: Docking spots
Answer: PIERS

10A clue: Feature of a Southern accent
Answer: TWANG

14A clue: Sweet potato lookalike
Answer: YAM

15A clue: Top-notch, informally
Answer: PRIMO

17A clue: Greenskeeper’s roll of grass
Answer: SOD

18A clue: Campfire remnants
Answer: ASHES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Nickname for the Florida Gators football stadium, with «the»
Answer: SWAMP

2D clue: «2001: A Space Odyssey» villain
Answer: HAL

3D clue: Cast out from a country
Answer: EXILE

4D clue: «Uptown Funk» and «Downtown,» for two
Answer: SONGS

7D clue: «Can I bend your ___ for a second?»
Answer: EAR

10D clue: Like an ambitious, competitive personality
Answer: TYPEA

11D clue: Simple-to-play card game for two
Answer: WAR

12D clue: Simple-living sect
Answer: AMISH

13D clue: Shop owner’s stock
Answer: GOODS

16D clue: Barkeep on «The Simpsons»
Answer: MOE

Technologies

11 Tips for Getting Started in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

From cutscene tips to early item grabs, here’s my advice for getting started with the remake of one of my personal favorite Metal Gear games.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the best way to play one of the greatest Metal Gear games of all time. However, like most Hideo Kojima games, the Metal Gear Solid series features unique gameplay and mechanics. Whether you’re a veteran fan of the series or experiencing Snake Eater for the very first time, the new modes and gameplay tweaks will be sure to satisfy you.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when jumping into Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Pause cutscenes if you need to

Hideo Kojima’s games are known for their long cutscenes, and Snake Eater is no different. The majority of your first few hours will feature very minimal gameplay. And while the cutscenes are exciting and bizarre, you can pause them to take a break without risking skipping them entirely. Pause any cutscene by hitting the menu button and if you want to skip, you’ll see the option for that, too. It’s also worth mentioning that you can hit the same button to pause lengthy radio conversations as well.

Swap camo often

Snake Eater can be played like a run-and-gun shooter, but a stealthy approach is generally better, and utilizing your various outfits and facepaint will maximize your evasiveness. Make sure to change your appearance often to match your surroundings. And to make swapping even quicker, hold up on the D-pad to access a quick change menu.

Keep an eye on camo percentage

The game will give you a higher stealth rating the better you blend in, so make sure to watch your camo percentage. As you move around the environment, a percentage at the bottom will show you how hidden you are. The higher the number, the less likely an enemy will spot you. Bonus tip: There’s a trophy you can unlock if you bring your camouflage over 90%.

Call your team often

Throughout the game you’ll unlock more and more allies to call and chat with on the radio. These conversations can range from hints on how to proceed to how you save your game. Calling teammates often will give you bonus dialogue about events that you just witnessed or played through. They’ll even offer fun anecdotes or just chat with Snake.

Be aware of time paradoxes

Snake Eater is a prequel entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. This means that you can’t deviate too far from the main story because it would mess with events that take place in MGS 1 and 2. If you do, you can create literal Time Paradoxes resulting in game over screens and humorous lectures from your team.

One such example is killing Ocelot after meeting him for the first time. To proceed, you need to leave him unconscious on the ground — stabbing him with your knife will disrupt the canon. However, you can stab him anyway if you want a trophy.

Keep an eye out for R1 prompts in cutscenes

Snake Eater has unique cutscenes where at specific moments, you can swap camera angles to see what Snake is looking at. You’ll miss out on important visuals while the game just shows your character looking into binoculars, for example. When you see the R1 icon show up in the screen’s corner, make sure to hit it. However, do keep in mind that this game is a product of an older era and sometimes you’ll realize Snake is just staring at a woman’s chest.

You can change settings to drag bodies easier

Hiding bodies is important to keep alert levels down. You can lift and drag someone by holding down the Square button, but doing so can be kind of annoying. In the settings menu you can select to change carrying from a button hold to a simple button press. This gives you back your right thumb in order to regain camera control while dragging someone out of sight.

Use silencers, but recognize when you don’t need them

Trust me on this, stealth is your friend in this game. It’s harder to pull off, but worth it. This means silencers are quite important for avoiding gun fights and staying hidden. However, silencers can wear down and won’t last forever. To avoid overusing them, remove the silencers anytime you engage in a big gun fight or boss battle. If the enemy already knows you’re there, there’s no point wasting the silencer.

Grab the thermal goggles early

One of the most useful pieces of equipment is the thermal goggles. It allows you to see enemies through walls and will help spot bosses during big fights. They can be collected pretty early in the game too. The second time you reach the destroyed base that housed Sokolov, check in the locker in his room.

Don’t miss the early machine gun

If you’re wanting to take the loud route through the game, there’s a machine gun stashed away quite early in Snake Eater. At the first bridge you encounter, where the game has you use a beehive to scare off an enemy, the gun is located in a small cave underneath. You can reach it by crossing the bridge and then circling around the ledge to the left. You need to grab the gun the first time you get to the bridge, though. The next time the gun will be gone and you’ll only find ammo.