Ursids
Meteor shower
title: "Ursids" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["meteor-showers", "december"] description: "Meteor shower" topic_path: "general/meteor-showers" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursids" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Meteor shower ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox meteor shower"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ursids (URS) |
| image | Radiant for Ursids 2018.jpg |
| caption | Ursa Minor with the radiant of the Ursids marked in red |
| parent | 8P/Tuttle |
| constellation | Ursa Minor (near Kochab) |
| ra | |
| dec | (Northern Hemisphere) |
| month | December 17 – December 26 |
| peak | December 22 |
| velocity | 33 |
| zhr | 10 |
| :: |
::callout[type=note]
::
| name = Ursids (URS) | image = Radiant for Ursids 2018.jpg | caption = Ursa Minor with the radiant of the Ursids marked in red | pronounce = | date = | parent = 8P/Tuttle | constellation = Ursa Minor (near Kochab) | ra = | dec = (Northern Hemisphere) | month = December 17 – December 26 | peak = December 22 | velocity = 33 | zhr = 10 | notes =
The Ursid (URS) meteor activity begins annually around December 17 and runs for over a week, until the 25th or 26th. This meteor shower is named for its radiant point, which is located near the star Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) in the constellation Ursa Minor.
History
The Ursids were probably discovered by William F. Denning, who observed them for several years around the start of the 20th century. While there were sporadic observations after, the first coordinated studies of the shower didn't begin until Dr. A. Bečvář observed an outburst of 169 per hour in 1945. Further observations in the 1970s and ongoing to current have established a relationship with comet 8P/Tuttle. Peter Jenniskens and Esko Lyytinen discovered that outbursts could happen when comet Tuttle was at aphelion because some meteoroids get trapped in the 7/6 orbital resonance with Jupiter.
Technical information
Earlier observations described an average radiant of RA=, DEC=, with maximum occurring at a solar longitude of 270.66 deg (about December 22), with the duration being established as December 17–24.
The Ursids have a particularly narrow stream, prompting veteran meteor observer, Norman W. McLeod, III (Florida) to comment that the Ursids "must be a compact stream like the Quadrantids. You have to be within 12 hours of maximum to see much."
References
|title=Observing the Ursids |publisher=Meteor Showers Online |author=Gary W. Kronk |author-link=Gary W. Kronk |url=http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/ursids.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724160438/http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/ursids.html |archive-date=2013-07-24 |url-status=dead |access-date=2012-11-17}}
References
- [https://www.imo.net/resources/calendar/#Ursids IMO Meteor Shower Calendar: Ursids (URS)]
- (2011). "Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy". [[Cambridge University Press]].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::