The Ursid meteor shower will pass over UK skies tonight (Tuesday December 21) as the final display of shooting stars of 2021.
Skygazers in Essex and around the nation can potentially catch a glimpse of this as the Earth passes through a cloud of cometary dust.
It is expected to peak some time during the night of December 21 and will be visible until the early morning of December 22.
This celestial display is associated with the comet 8P/Tuttle, also known as Comet Tuttle, which orbits the Sun once every 13 years.
At its peak the Ursid meteor shower is quite sparse, only producing around five meteors an hour.
According to Royal Observatory Greenwich, the meteor shower also occurs around the time of the winter solstice, when there will be long hours of darkness for stargazing.
Where can you see the Ursid meteor shower in Essex?
Met Office forecast around Essex has it as slightly overcast with a hint of moonlight peaking from behind the clouds.
The ideal time to potentially get a view in the county would be between 11pm and 1am where the cloud mostly dissipates.
Ideally the shooting stars should be visible to the naked eye, with the best way to view them to get away from all artificial lights and allow at least 45 minutes for the eyes to adjust to the dark.
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