{"id":21445,"date":"2022-12-19T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=132762"},"modified":"2022-12-19T08:42:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T07:42:16","slug":"ursid-meteor-shower-your-guide-to-spotting-a-rare-christmas-shooting-star","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/ursid-meteor-shower-your-guide-to-spotting-a-rare-christmas-shooting-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Ursid Meteor Shower: Your guide to spotting a rare Christmas shooting star"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Holly Spanner\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 19 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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If the light from the nearly full, waning gibbous Moon scuppered your view of this year\u2019s Geminid meteor shower<\/a>, all is not lost. The Ursid meteor shower, although sparse, peaks just after the winter solstice on a new Moon, so this year could be a great time to spot yourself an Ursid or two.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re keen to make the most of the longer (wrap up warm) nights, make sure you check out our astronomy for beginners\u2019 guide<\/a>\u00a0and our\u00a0full Moon calendar<\/a>. For a full roundup of this year\u2019s meteor showers, we\u2019ve got all the essentials listed in our\u00a0meteor shower calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When can you see the Ursid meteor shower 2022 in the UK?<\/h2>\n

The Ursid meteor shower begins on 17 December and will continue through to 26 December. The shower reaches its maximum on 22-23 December, when we can expect to see up to 10 meteors per hour.<\/p>\n

The Ursids have a short period of activity of just over a week, much less than other meteor showers, like the long-lived Orionid meteor shower<\/a> back in October.<\/p>\n

The best time to look up and maximise your chances of spotting an Ursid is between midnight and around 5am, but they should be visible all night. Because the Ursids occur around a week after the peak of the Geminids, it\u2019s a fantastic opportunity for another show, should clouds or the pesky full December Moon<\/a> get in the way earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

Where to look<\/h2>\n

The radiant (the direction from which the meteors appear to originate) is hinted at in it\u2019s name, and from our view here on Earth, is in the constellation Ursa Minor (The Little Bear). Ursa Minor is a constant feature of northern skies, and as such, is home to the north celestial pole, marked by the pole star, Polaris. Ursa Minor never rises or sets, instead spinning around the pole once every 24 hours.<\/p>\n

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In the northern hemisphere, look directly overhead to the constellation Ursa Minor to find the radiant of the Ursid meteor shower \u00a9 PA Graphics<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

You can find the radiant by looking directly overhead, and the shape of Ursa Minor is similar to that of the Plough<\/a> in Ursa Major (The Great Bear), with the tail of Ursa Minor curving away from Polaris.<\/p>\n

However, you don\u2019t need to be able to see Ursa Minor in order to spot an Ursid. They will be able to be seen across the sky, so if possible, it\u2019s good to get to a location where you can scan all of the night sky. Knowing where Ursa Minor is, is a good way to determine whether the meteor you\u2019re seeing is an Ursid or a stray Geminid from the tail-end of the Geminid meteor shower.<\/p>\n

How many meteors will you be able to see?<\/h2>\n

During the Ursid meteor shower, you can expect to see a peak of around 10 meteors per hour. The peak activity is relatively short, and we call it the peak zenithal hourly rate (ZHR).<\/p>\n

Activity varies year on year, and in reality, for 2022, we might be able to see around 5 to 10 per hour (perhaps less), however, other years are more favourable.<\/p>\n

Where do the Ursids come from?<\/h2>\n

The Ursids are a result of the Comet 8P\/Tuttle as it makes its journey around the Sun. As the Earth ploughs through the dust trails left behind by this comet, these particles interact with our atmosphere, producing a trail of excited atoms. This, in turn, produces the light we see as meteors or \u2018shooting stars\u2019. Not to be confused with Comet 55P\/Tempel-Tuttle<\/a>, which gives us the Leonids.<\/p>\n

Comet 8P\/Tuttle a periodic comet with an elliptical orbit of around 13.6 years. Radar observations of the comet back in 2008<\/a>, revealed it to be a contact binary comet, with a nucleus of around 4.5 miles in diameter. A contact binary is an object comprised of two bodies that have gravitated towards each other, the result being a peanut-ish shaped object.<\/p>\n

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Animation of 8P\/Tuttle from 2005 to 2025. Comet 8P\/Tuttle is in purple, Venus is light blue, Earth is dark blue, Mars is red, Jupiter is green and Saturn is yellow \u00a9 Phoenix7777 using data from HORIZONS System, JPL, NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Viewing tips<\/h2>\n

You don\u2019t need any special equipment to spot one of these elusive shooting stars, but here\u2019s how you can maximise your chances at spotting an Ursid:<\/p>\n