\n The Ursid meteor shower, which marks the final celestial event of the year, will peak between Sunday night and early Monday morning.\n <\/p>\n
\n Sky-gazers can expect to see five to 10 meteors per hour between midnight and 5 a.m. ET Monday, or between 9 p.m. PT Sunday and 2 a.m. PT Monday, said Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The meteor shower will peak around the time of the winter solstice, or the official beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, when it is the farthest from the sun.\n <\/p>\n \n The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year and coincides with a thin and faint crescent moon, creating perfectly dark skies for optimal meteor viewing.\n <\/p>\n \n The shower will only be visible to those in the Northern Hemisphere because the radiant, or the point from which meteors appear to come, never rises high enough in the sky to by visible for those in the Southern Hemisphere.\n <\/p>\n \n The Ursids originate from the bowl of the Little Dipper, also known as the Ursa Minor constellation, near the bright orange star called Kochab, Lunsford said.\n <\/p>\n \n The meteor shower occurs as Earth encounters the stream of particles <\/strong>left behind by comet 8P\/Tuttle, which sheds material as it orbits the sun, according to EarthSky.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n This year\u2019s shower activity could be enhanced by previous streams of debris from the comet, Lunsford said.\n <\/p>\n \n Each time comet 8P\/Tuttle passes through the inner solar system during its orbit, the celestial object leaves behind a new trail of debris, he added. The trails are similar, but they aren\u2019t exactly the same, meaning that Earth can pass through one trail and miss others.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis year it is predicted that the Earth will pass through a particular trail which may give us a brief enhancement of activity,\u201d Lunsford said via email.\n <\/p>\n