Peaks 21–22 December ZHR 10

The Ursids

A small shower on the solstice, circumpolar and easy to forget.

Ten an hour from a radiant that never sets for most of the northern hemisphere, which means there is no bad hour to look — only cold ones. It arrives a week after the Geminids have exhausted everybody's enthusiasm, which is the other reason it goes unwatched.

Peak: 21–22 December, most years
Zenithal hourly rate: 10
Radiant: Ursa Minor, near the bowl of the Little Dipper
Debris from: comet 8P/Tuttle

Where you can see it

The radiant rises everywhere north of 14°S. From mid-northern latitudes (40°N) it climbs to about 51° before dawn. From mid-southern latitudes (35°S) it never rises.

The height is the radiant's, the point the meteors seem to come from, on the peak night, counting only the hours when the Sun is at least 12° below the horizon. The lower it is, the fewer meteors reach you: at 30° up you would see about half the rate above, before the Moon and your own sky take their share.

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

The Moon's phase at the Ursids maximum, 2026 to 2029
Maximum	Moon	What that means
22 December 2026	Waxing Gibbous, 94%	A bright Moon up for most of the night. Expect the brightest meteors only.
22 December 2027	Waning Crescent, 33%	A crescent that does not rise until close to dawn. Most of the night is dark.
22 December 2028	Waxing Crescent, 32%	A crescent that sets in the evening, well before the shower's best hours.
22 December 2029	Full Moon, 99%	A bright Moon through the pre-dawn hours, which is exactly when the rate peaks.

The Moon is taken at 00:00 UTC on the morning of maximum. Whether it is actually above your horizon at three in the morning depends on where you are standing — the live calendar works that out for your own location. Showers are almost all better after midnight, when your side of the planet turns to face the direction of travel and starts sweeping meteors up instead of waiting to be caught.

What you need

Nothing. Meteors cross too much sky too fast for binoculars or a telescope to be anything but a handicap — the equipment for this is a coat, a chair that tips back, and twenty minutes for your eyes to adapt. Look up and slightly away from the radiant rather than straight at it; meteors near the radiant are coming at you end-on and leave the shortest trails.

Peak night and rate: International Meteor Organization, Meteor Shower Calendar (opens in a new tab). Moon phases computed here.

The Ursids

Where you can see it

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

What you need

Settings

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from