This tiny meteor shower can really only be seen from the Northern Hemisphere with between five and ten meteors flying across the sky every hour.
The Ursides peak on the evening of December 21, leading to the early morning hours of December 22. The moon will be 50% full. That, in combination with the often cloudy winter nights of December, could obstruct your view of this little shower.
If you want the best perspective from the shower, wait for the moon to set around 12:30 p.m. ET December 22, according to NASA. Then watch the sky for about an hour.
The meteor shower comes from the constellation Ursa Minor, known as the Little Bear, but the meteors will be visible all over the sky.
The Ursides are a relatively new meteor shower, according to EarthSky.org’s skywatching guide. While many of the meteor showers we see throughout the year have been annual for centuries, the Ursids were not observed until the 20th century.
The meteor shower occurs as Earth nears Comet 8P / Tuttle’s orbit, and this year our close-pass includes several tracks of debris that are also tracking this comet, according to the American Meteor Society. This could provide more activity during the meteor shower.
Don’t look straight up at the sky. Aim for about mid-air, according to the American Meteor Society.
The Geminid meteor shower also lasts through Sunday, with the winter solstice occurring a day later on December 21.
And don’t forget to keep an eye out for the so-called “Poinsettia” (which is actually not a star) on December 21st. Then Jupiter and Saturn come closest to each other in our sky than they have in centuries. Because of this conjunction, they will appear as a double planet at dusk.
