Ursid meteor shower to light up the night sky
The meteor shower will be visible with the naked eye, but the display is usually sparse.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The final meteor shower of the year is set to dazzle skygazers as it lights up the nights before Christmas.
However, the Ursid display is usually sparse, producing around five meteors per hour at its peak, which is expected to take place over the UK on Wednesday night.
With the shower occurring around the time of the winter solstice, people will have maximum hours of darkness to try to spot the shooting stars.
Ursid meteors appear to radiate from near the Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) in the constellation Ursa Minor.
But the source of the shooting stars is a stream of debris left behind by comet 8P/Tuttle.
The meteor shower will be visible with the naked eye, but skygazers will need to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.
Dr Greg Brown, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich said: “The Ursids meteor shower is a fairly minor display occurring in late December. With at best around 10 meteors per hour in ideal conditions, many observers won’t see more than a few meteors even around the peak.
“However, if you want to try and see this shower for yourself the usual tips apply.
“Try and find a place with a low horizon to grant yourself the best view of the sky, and wait for the early hours of the morning when the shower will be at its best.
“Fill your view with as much of the sky as possible (a deckchair can be a real help here) and wait.
“Eventually, you’ll see the bright streaks of light that are due to the Earth smashing into a trail of dust left behind the Comet 8P/Tuttle.
“But most importantly of all for this mid-winter display, don’t forget to wrap up warm.”