Ursids meteor shower 2026 and 2027

What the Ursids are

The Ursids are debris from comet 8P/Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 13.6 years, according to the International Meteor Organization (IMO). It last passed perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, on August 27, 2021. Every December, Earth crosses the comet’s dusty orbit, and the grains burn up in the upper atmosphere.

The shower is named after Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, better known as the Little Dipper. The radiant lies near Kochab, the bright star at the outer end of the dipper’s bowl, not far from Polaris.

What they look like

Ursids hit the atmosphere at a moderate speed, a little slower than the Geminids that come before them. The usual rates are low, so the Ursids are more of a quiet bonus than a show. IMO notes that the maximum is fairly narrow and that its timing seems to shift from year to year, which makes a long watch on the peak night more useful than a quick look.

How to watch from the US

Because the radiant is so close to the north celestial pole, it never sets from most of the US. IMO describes it as circumpolar from most northern sites and notes that it fails to rise for most southern-hemisphere ones. It sits lowest in the north in the evening and climbs through the night, reaching its highest point toward morning. That is why the best hours we show for each city fall late in the night.

From Alaska and the northern states, the radiant is high; from Florida, south Texas and Hawaii, it is lower, but still clear of the horizon. Face north or simply take in a wide view of the sky, keeping your back to any bright Moon. The peak falls around the longest nights of the year, so even after a late start you’ll have hours of darkness to work with. Dress for real winter cold.

The Ursid peak comes about 12 days before the Quadrantids, which also come from the northern sky. The last Geminids overlap the start of the Ursid period, and the weak Comae Berenicids are active throughout, so not every meteor you see will be an Ursid. Trace each meteor back: Ursids lead back toward the Little Dipper.

Notable history

IMO calls the Ursids a poorly observed northern-hemisphere shower that has produced at least two major outbursts, in 1945 and 1986. Others may have been missed because of December weather. Lesser increases in rate were reported from 2006 to 2008 and in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020, from visual and video data.

IMO adds that many observed Ursid peaks came when comet Tuttle was near the far end of its orbit, its aphelion, rather than near the Sun. That makes the shower’s behavior hard to predict. IMO lists the usual ZHR (zenithal hourly rate, the count under ideal skies with the radiant overhead) as about 10, occasionally up to 50.

2026 and 2027 outlook

2026. IMO predicts the maximum on December 22 at 22h UT, two days before full Moon. The Moon will be about 96% lit and in Taurus, and IMO considers the chance of good visual data small. Peter Jenniskens’s 2006 tables list a weak filament encounter near 14h UT on December 22, with a ZHR below 20. See the 2026 calendar.

2027. IMO expects the maximum on December 23 at 04h UT, which is 11 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. PST on December 22. No dust trail or filament encounters are predicted, so the ZHR should be near its average. The radiant will be moon-free, giving the best Ursid conditions of the two years.