Overview
- Observers should expect roughly five to ten meteors per hour during the peak window, with the highest activity in the pre-dawn hours of December 22.
- Some forecasters predict a brief uptick if Earth intersects a particular debris trail, though any increase would likely be short-lived.
- The meteors are fragments from comet 8P/Tuttle, whose debris streams produce the annual Ursids.
- The radiant lies in Ursa Minor near Kochab and Polaris, making the shower primarily visible in the Northern Hemisphere and effectively out of view in the south.
- No telescope is needed; seek a dark site, allow eyes to adapt, dress warmly, and consider apps or live streams such as Star Walk or Sky Tonight if clouds or light pollution interfere.