Look at these gorgeous photos of the first meteor shower of 2016 to kick off your year

While many of us were fast asleep early this morning, the night sky lit up with the first meteor shower of the year, visible from places in the U.S. and Europe. A few dedicated sky watchers were out in the cold and brought us these lovely pictures to bring in the new year:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAGFAyqxRDn/?tagged=quadrantids

The Quadrantids meteor shower is unusual: the debris we see streaking across the sky isn't the result of a comet deteriorating, which is the case with most meteor showers, but rather pieces of a rock called 2003 EH1. Scientists discovered the object in 2003. "It is possible that 2003 EH1 is a 'dead comet' or a new kind of object being discussed by astronomers called a "rock comet," according to NASA.