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Look up to see the Ursid meteor shower, the final celestial display of the year, on Sunday morning.
The diminutive meteor shower is often overshadowed by the Geminid meteor shower that peaks about a week earlier. And the Ursids always take place near the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year, which occurs on Saturday. The meteor shower is also the least observed due to the busy holiday season and typically cold, cloudy nights in the Northern Hemisphere during this time of year, according to the American Meteor Society.
The shower also favors the Northern Hemisphere because the radiant, or the point from which the meteors appear to come in the night sky, never rises high enough in the sky for those in the Southern Hemisphere.
The moon will be 54% full on Sunday, according to NASA, which will limit visibility for the faint meteors, but experts have tips on how to make the most of viewing the Ursids.
The meteor shower is expected to peak between 4 and 5 a.m. ET Sunday, said Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society. But it’s also possible to see meteors in the sky just after midnight, according to EarthSky.
The Ursids originate from the bowl of the Little Dipper, also known as the Ursa Minor constellation, near the bright orange star called Kochab, Lunsford said.
While the moon rises near midnight local time for most sites in North America, the evening hours before moonrise may be the worst time to try and catch a glimpse of the meteors because the meteor activity will be out of sight and blocked by the horizon.
Instead, Lunsford recommends looking for meteors streaking across the sky in the final hours before dawn. Up to 10 meteors may be visible per hour. Just remember to block out the moon to increase your chances of spotting meteors, he said.
“To best see these meteors face toward the north with the moon behind you,” Lunsford said via email. “Lie in a comfortable lounge chair and center your sight half-way up in the sky so that the horizon lies at the bottom of your field of view. If trees or other obstacles block your view, then look a little higher in the sky. The atmosphere is thickest in the lower portions of the sky, and this is where you will see the most activity.”
To allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness and increase your chances of spotting meteors, the American Meteor Society recommends bundling up against the cold temperatures and remaining outside for at least an hour.
The meteor shower occurs as Earth encounters the stream of material left behind by comet 8P/Tuttle, which sheds material as it orbits the sun, according to EarthSky.
The Ursids are also a relatively new meteor shower, EarthSky reports. While many of the meteor showers seen throughout the year have been annual occurrences for centuries, the Ursids weren’t observed until the 20th century, when observers noticed meteors that appeared to come from the Little Dipper.
The Ursids may be the final meteor shower to peak this year, but the Quadrantids are not far behind.
The annual Quadrantid meteor shower will return to the night sky on December 26 and will be at its most active as 2025 kicks off, according to the American Meteor Society.
The Quadrantids will face less competition from the bright moon, which will only be 11% full during peak activity.
“If your sky is cloudy in the morning of December 22nd, you will have one more opportunity to see a meteor shower in the near future when the Quadrantids peak on the morning of January 3rd,” Lunsford said.