Astronomical event: Ursid meteor shower

The Ursids shower arrives each year between December 17 and December 23. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 8/P Tuttle and is also called the Mechain-Tuttle’s.

Unfortunately 2018 is not expected to be a particularly dramatic display.

This year it will peak on the night of December 22 but this will coincide with a full moon which won't help visibility or viewing. The Ursids meteor shower has been known to produce short bursts of over 100 meteors per hour. But typically the shower is much sparser than that. In a dark sky, it might produce only five to 10 meteors per hour at its peak.