Updated Ursid Meteor Shower Information
There has been some confusion about the peak night of the Ursids Meteor shower. Many sources are reporting the peak night to be the night of the 21st into the 22nd, including the American Meteor Society. Check out their 2015 meteor shower calendar here.
The International Meteor Organization is basically the number one voice in the prediction of meteor showers. They have the absolute peak occurring at 2:30AM UTC on December 23rd. This would be 9:30PM EST or 6:30PM PST. 2015 meteor shower calendar here.
This would mean the peak night for the U.S. is actually the night of December 22nd into the 23rd. Again, we are citing the IMO with this idea. So, we have updated our graphics and forecasts.
Unfortunately the night of the 22/23rd will have even worse viewing conditions across most of the US than the prior night. A massive surge of moisture will bring clouds to most of the country east of the Rockies. But, it will be mild for those planning on being outside trying to catch any clear patch of sky.
The other problem is the moon will be in the sky most of the night, setting after 5AM at any given location. However, sunrise is so late in most places, especially northern latitudes. That you will still have a few hours of darkness after the moon sets.
Background on the Ursids
The Ursids meteor shower is triggered by debris from Comet 8P/Tuttle. It orbits the sun once every 13 years or so. The Ursids are larger than typical cometary particles. They are the size of pebbles and coarse sand.
The meteor shower is almost exclusively a northern hemisphere show. The shower radiates from Ursa Minor (the little dipper), very close to Polaris, the north star.
The shower produces on average 5-10 meteors per hour. But, on the peak night brief bursts of up to 100 per hour are possible.
I want to give a shout out to AccuWeather.com's Al Blasko for all of his help with the content of not just this blog, but many of my posts since taking over as the Accuweather.com Astronomy blogger.
Bonus Europe and Asia Sky Cover Forecast for the Peak
Between the clouds and the bright moon, this shower does not have a lot going for it. But, keep checking back here and we will try to find any possible opportunity at clear skies we can as we updated the forecast until the peak night. Thanks for reading and just look up!
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