Friday morning before sunrise gives meteor observers a chance to see a relatively unknown shower, the Quadrantids. These seems to originate from near the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper which rises around midnight. Look after 1 am in the northeast. The rate for these may reach 120 per hour. However, this number includes the dimmer meteors and the ones that you don't catch streaking behind you. A better number would be 1/3 that top value, placing them around 40 per hour. Nevertheless, this is one of the year's best meteor events.
If you haven't become frozen by 5:00 a.m., you'll also see the crescent moon and brilliant Venus rising in the southeast. This promises to be an inspiring sight to start your day!
Such is the view from Earth...
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