Ursid meteor shower 2024: Here’s when and where you can witness this year's final celestial show

The end of this year might just be the cherry on the cake for the skygazers!
For they don’t need the holiday fireworks to show up for them, because they’ll having their own celestial show up in the sky!
Despite Leonid and Geminid meteor showers having run their courses, it’s time for a new show; which is going to be the last celestial wonder of this year. It’s the Ursid meteor shower.
Here is all that you need to know about the Ursid meteor shower.

The Ursid (URS) meteor activity begins annually around December 17 and runs for over a week, until the 25th or 26th. This meteor shower is named for its radiant point, which is located near the star Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) in the constellation Ursa Minor.
William F. Denning, who observed a meteor shower for several years around the start of the 20th century, probably is the discoverer of the Ursids. While there were sporadic observations after, the first coordinated studies of the shower didn't begin until Dr. A. Bečvář observed an outburst of 169 per hour in 1945.
Further observations in the 1970s and ongoing to current have established a relationship with comet 8P/Tuttle. Peter Jenniskens and Esko Lyytinen discovered that outbursts could happen when comet Tuttle was at aphelion because some meteoroids get trapped in the 7/6 orbital resonance with Jupiter.

Darren Baskill, a physics and astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, told Newsweek, “As the Earth orbits around the solar system at 70,000 miles per hour, it ploughs through this dust, which we see briefly glow as it is swept up and burnt by the friction of our atmosphere.”
The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, also called the Little Dipper, which gives this shower its name — the Ursids.

The Ursid meteor shower will peak on the night of December 21, 2024 and into the early morning hours of December 22. The shower will be active from December 17 to 26.
Key factors: Here are some things to know about the Ursid meteor shower:
Visibility: The Ursid meteor shower is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere. The radiant, or the point from which the meteors appear to come, is in the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper. The Little Dipper is visible all night in the Northern Hemisphere.
Viewing conditions: The best viewing conditions are dark skies away from city lights and cloudless nights. The moon will be partly full, which may reduce visibility, but the brightest meteors should still be easy to see.
Number of meteors: The Ursid meteor shower is expected to produce up to 10 meteors per hour.
Parent body: The Ursid meteor shower is caused by comet 8P/Tuttle. The comet's path is tilted to Earth's orbit, so we intercept material as it descends from above our orbit.


The Ursids can be best spotted just before dawn. Look for the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper as the meteors appear to emerge from this constellation. According to Live Science, Ursa Minor is a circumpolar constellation meaning it will be visible all night in the northern hemisphere.
But the Moon might ruin the moment a little. The meteors' radiance might get washed out by a waning gibbous Moon which will be about 52 to 62 percent full. Since the Moon will not rise until right before midnight, it is best to look for the meteors around midnight when the Moon is low in the sky.
This enchanting cosmic event is set to grace the skies in the upcoming days. However, since the Ursids appear to originate from the Little Dipper constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, the meteors will be visible all night for observers in this region. For the best experience, focus on the northern sky and allow 20 to 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.