Stargaze › Meteor Showers › Ursids
Peak: 22 December 2026, around 18:00 UTC
Active: 17 December 2026 – 26 December 2026
Rate at peak: up to 10 meteors/hour (ZHR)
Speed: 33 km/s ·
Parent body: Comet 8P/Tuttle ·
Radiant: Ursa Minor
Modest rates of around 10 per hour, but the Ursids have a trick: the radiant is circumpolar from northern latitudes, meaning it never dips below the horizon. You can watch literally all night if you want, and the solstice timing gives you the longest nights of the year to do it in.
Face north toward Polaris and the radiant in Ursa Minor. The long winter nights and stable radiant altitude let you set up early and stay late. Thermal base layers are non-negotiable. Catching a meteor on the winter solstice has a certain magic to it - a good excuse to stay out late on the longest night of the year.
Exclusively a northern hemisphere shower. The radiant never rises for southern observers. Best from polar and sub-arctic regions where the radiant climbs highest.
Surprise outbursts in 1945 (over 100 ZHR), 1986, and 2000 suggest the debris trail has complex dense filaments. The 2000 outburst hit 50 ZHR with very little warning. Linked to close approaches of Comet 8P/Tuttle.
The Ursids peak on 22 December 2026 at around 18:00 UTC. The shower is active from 17 December 2026 to 26 December 2026.
Under dark skies at peak you can expect up to 10 meteors per hour (ZHR). Light pollution and moonlight reduce that figure.
The radiant lies in the constellation Ursa Minor, but meteors appear across the whole sky. Face north toward Polaris and the radiant in Ursa Minor. The long winter nights and stable radiant altitude let you set up early and stay late. Thermal base layers are non-negotiable. Catching a meteor on the winter solstice has a certain magic to it - a good excuse to stay out late on the longest night of the year.