Final meteor shower of 2022: How to watch the Ursids?

Get yourself ready to witness the final meteor shower of the year. This early Christmas gift from the celestial sky is coming less than two weeks after this year’s biggest meteor shower.

The name of this upcoming meteor shower is the Ursids which Earth Sky termed a “low-key” meteor shower. During this shower's peak, viewers can see 5 to 10 meteors per hour in the dark sky. According to the site, the best time to witness the shower is before dawn on Thursday and Friday.

Earth Sky also says that a burst of 100 or more meteors per hour is also observed in rare chances.


Compared to the number of meteors observed during the Geminids meteor shower earlier this month, The Ursid meteor shower won’t generate an equal amount of meteors. But people will have a chance to witness space rocks streaking across the sky because of the Ursid before Christmas Eve. The added advantage is that the moon’s brightness won’t get in the way of seeing them.

According to the American Meteor Society, people can begin to see meteors from late Wednesday night as the pick will be observed during the early hours of Thursday morning. And only when viewers watch it for several hours will they be able to witness the “peaks” and “valleys” of meteor activity. People can also see the meteors on Friday night into Friday morning.

Earth Sky recommends that those trying to watch the meteor shower do so from a country location to avoid light pollution.

FAQs:

1. Do meteor showers hit Earth?
   Almost no meteor hit the ground.
2. What is the biggest meteor that hit Earth?
   It was 12.4 to 15.5 miles wide.