The holiday season typically refers to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s, but that’s not all we’re celebrating this month. The Ursid meteor shower is peaking on the evening of December 21 and into the morning of December 22, coinciding directly with the winter solstice.
The shower originates from the Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) constellation, with meteors streaking across the sky all night. It occurs when Earth passes close to the orbit of comet 8P/Tuttle, and this year that pass includes several trails of debris that follow the comet, perhaps leading to more activity during the shower.
