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It looks as though Mother Nature is going to be a little late with the New Year’s light show, but if we’re lucky here on the West Coast it’s sure to be better late than never.

The 2012 Quadrantids meteor shower is scheduled to peak in the northern night sky sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. Wednesday morning—boasting up to 100 bright, blue-hued alien missiles per hour.

A not-so-well-known meteorologic occurance, the Quadrantid—named for a now nationally unrecognized constellation—is made up of the remnants of a comet believed to have broken up sometime in the last several centuries according to NASA.

Although the East Coast is in a better vantage point to see the shower as it will be higher in the night sky, left coasters will have the opportunity to see the occasional low-horizon, atmosphere-skimming space rocks that leave large trails in their 90,000 mph wake.

Think, quality over quantity and you won’t be disappointed. That is, unless the coastal fog decides to hang thick and then we’d all do better to stay tucked in.

Photo courtesy andrew4bellamy via flickr