Even as life on Earth is getting worse and worse, cool stuff happens in space. If you happened to miss the great connection of Jupiter and Saturn last night, the heavens are solution you want to be remiss, and given something else to look for: T.Ursid Meteor Shower arrives tonight in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here’s some background on tonight’s celestial show, and what you need to have until he sees a light up a sky near you.
What is an Ursid Meteor rain shower?
Not to be confused with the Geminid Meteor Shower—which peaked earlier this month (just one event ahead December full celestial calendar, although they are still expected to be from time to time visible through it Sunday) —tUrsids is an annual event which races through the skies around the winter solstice. They are less numerous than the Geminids, which peaked at 13-14 December at 120 meteors per hour, according to Space.com.
The Ursids don’t shine as much hype, largely because they only come in around 5-10 at the peak. They are, however, still fine-grained rocks that move when you can catch them, and sometimes generate up to 100 meteors per hour, although that is very rare, according to EarthSky.
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Water expert Joe Rao explains that the Ursids are approaching the Little Dipper:
The Ursids are so named because they seem to be looking out of the vicinity of the bright orange star Kochab, in the constellation Ursa Minor, the little bear. Kochab is the brightest of the two outer stars in the bowl Small receptor (the other Perkad), they seem to be marching in a circle like sentries around Polaris, the North Star. But while the Geminids are at the top of most “must see” meteor watchers, the Ursids are usually at the bottom and usually get little attention but only for the most discerning meteor spectator.
As EarthSky notes, the Ursids are a more recent phenomenon, and were only discovered in the 20th century. You need a dark sky to catch them.
As you can see the Ursids
I will not attack you: It is going to help a lot if you are in the Northern Hemisphere; people in the Southern Hemisphere will have little opportunity to see the exhibition.
There is no hidden secret for a good view. A.ll you really warm clothing and dark skies, away from any light pollution. Be willing to stay out late too, like EarthSky Notes:
If you look from a place in the northern hemisphere around sunset time, you will find the Big Dipper and the Kochab star well up in the northeast at around 1:00 am your local time. That’s around the time of night you want to begin looking at this meteor shower.
Those in mnorthern latitudes, as in Canada, will have an easier time seeing the Ursids, but you will need to do some star mapping to capture them in the full of splendor. As EarthSky writes:
From far north latitudes (for example, in Canada), there is the Little Dipper circumpolar (out all night). From there, you’ll find the Kochab star under Polaris, the North Star, at dusk. Kochab (and all the Little Dipper stars) orbit Polaris in a counterclockwise direction all night, with this star reaching its peak for the night in the hours before morning.
This is all comes with the catat you need to stay out in the cold to see the skies, maybe for a few hours. But you have prepared too much this year. Just grab a warm coat. T.it will make you good fresh air.