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Catch the Ursid meteor shower as it peaks just before Christmas
The Ursid meteor shower is bringing fiery streaks to nighttime and early morning skies
NEW YORK — The last major meteor shower of the year, known as the Ursids, peaks soon, bringing glowing streaks to nighttime and early morning skies. Compared to other meteor showers, it's more subdued, but experts say it's still worth a glimpse.
Meteor showers happen when space rocks hit Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds and burn up, gaining fiery tails — the end of a “shooting star.” Random meteors are visible from Earth on any given clear night, but more predictable meteor showers happen yearly when Earth passes through streams of cosmic leftovers from comets or asteroids.
December's overlooked meteor shower peaks next week — will the Ursids surprise us?
December's faint Ursid meteor shower returns under dark skies, offering a small chance of unexpected activity.
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When skywatchers think of meteor showers in December, they immediately think of the Geminids, which over the years have evolved into the most prolific and reliable of the dozen or so annual meteor displays that occur. And yet, there is also another notable meteor shower that occurs during December that, in contrast, hardly gets much notice at all: The December Ursids. The peak of this meteor display usually occurs during the overnight hours of Dec. 21-22.
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Viewing the Ursid Meteor Shower in 2025
The Ursid meteor shower is the least observed of the major annual showers. In the northern hemisphere December nights are cold and often cloudy. Another hindrance is the fact that it peaks just before the Christmas holiday when many people are busy with holiday festivities. This shower is completely invisible from the southern hemisphere as the radiant lies too far north to be seen from south of the equator this time of year.
The Ursids are active from December 13-24 with a sharp maximum on December 22nd. The exact time of maximum activity is predicted to occur near 10:00 universal time which corresponds to 5am EST and 2am PST. This timing is highly favorable for North America. Another possible enhancement of activity could occur when the Earth passes close to a filament of particles from a previous passage of comet Tuttle at 5:39 UT which corresponds to 21:39 (9:39pm PST on Dec 21st) and 12:39am EST on the 22nd* . Activity is normally low away from maximum with rates less than 1 shower member per hour. At maximum activity this source normally adds 5-10 medium velocity meteors to the 10 or so that are normally seen each morning hour from dark sky sites. The moon will be a slender waxing crescent phase in the evening sky on December 22nd and will not interfere with observing the Ursids this year.
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