Ursid meteor Outburst
The Ursid meteor shower is the last one of the year and it is often overlooked because of the more prolific Geminids earlier in the month. On the peak night of 21/22 December every year peak rates are 5-10 meteors per hour, but this year my good friend Martin Mckenna informed me of possible enhanced activity from the Ursids. We decided that it was worth a watch because of the chance of witnessing an outburst.
Sure enough our dedication paid off and we saw good rates, our watch started at 01:00 until 05:40hrs. We observed 72 Ursids which included 3 fireballs, of note was the enhanced activity between 03:00 and 04:00 when sometimes we saw meteors flying down in twos and threes. I caught one of the brighter Ursids close to Orion in the above image. A very enjoyable session in freezing temperatures
Sure enough our dedication paid off and we saw good rates, our watch started at 01:00 until 05:40hrs. We observed 72 Ursids which included 3 fireballs, of note was the enhanced activity between 03:00 and 04:00 when sometimes we saw meteors flying down in twos and threes. I caught one of the brighter Ursids close to Orion in the above image. A very enjoyable session in freezing temperatures