The meteor shower is known for producing spectacular displays in the night sky and will be visible in skies across the UK, weather permitting, with a peak between December 21 and 22
As we move towards the end of 2025 we approach your last chance to see a spectacular meteor shower this year.
The Ursid is a regular shower of meteors, objects burning up in the atmosphere, which often puts on an incredible display at around this time of year. We’re now well into the period where the shower is visible, so it might soon be your last chance to catch a glimpse of it.
The shower is set to be active between December 17 and December 26, with a peak tomorrow, December 22, according to Royal Museums Greenwich. The Ursid is a relatively sparse meteor shower, producing around ten meteors per hour at its peak – meaning it’s an extra special moment if you do get to spot one streak across the night sky.
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If you want to give it a go you should expect a long wait, as there’s no knowing if or when it will appear. Of course, if you are planning on watching the shower then it’s a very good idea to try and get out of a big built up area.
This is because the light pollution of a city will obscure the meteors. You probably won’t witness the full extent of the magnificent display in the middle of a city that you would see somewhere more isolated.
Luckily the shower takes place around the time of the winter solstice, meaning skygazers have maximum hours of darkness to watch. This year, the peak of the shower will take place while the Moon is in a thin waxing crescent phase and due to set early in the evening, meaning darker skies.
The Ursids are named after the constellation Ursa Minor, from which the meteors appear to originate. While they radiate from this point, the best way to see them is to look 30 degrees away from Ursa Minor. The best time to catch a glimpse of the spectacle is to head out between midnight and dawn.
You don’t need to look in any particular direction, if you’re in a wide-open space it’s helpful to try and scan the whole sky. For the best chance of spotting a meteor, let your eyes adjust to the dark for at least 30 minutes, avoid looking at any bright lights or screens, as you scan the sky.
Though the Ursids is a more low-key affair than the Geminids, there have been rare instances where bursts of 100 or more meteors per hour have been recorded streaking across the night sky. The Ursids come from the 8P/Tuttle comet, discovered in 1790 by Pierre Mechain in Paris.
The comet gets as close to the sun as the Earth does, and then goes out as far as the orbit of Saturn. Its path is tilted to the Earth’s orbit, meaning we intercept the material as it descends from above our orbit. The comet last visited the inner solar system in August 2021, though this is not linked to the meteor shower.
