Ursids Boost Holiday Meteor Count: How to See the Forgotten Meteor Shower This Week

“Some gifts are best left unwrapped, because they're going to be lit on fire when they crash into our atmosphere.

See full bioDec. 23, 2022 8:54 a.m. PT

If you can bear to step outside this week and spend some time hanging out in the dark and the cold, it might be worth your while.

The end of the year isn't thought of as an ideal time to go outside looking for shooting stars, given frigid temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere and copious attention devoted to the holidays. But December is actually the best month for meteors by many measures, and a little-known meteor shower will give a boost to their numbers in the night sky just before Christmas this week. 

The Ursid meteor shower isn't a household name. It's arguably the least known of the dozen major meteor showers of 2022, as designated by the International Meteor Organization. This is probably because it not only comes at a chilly, busy time of year for many people, but it also arrives on the heels of the mighty Geminid meteor shower, which peaks a week earlier. 

The Ursids can really only be seen from the Northern Hemisphere (brrrr...) and typically produce about five to 10 meteors per hour at peak under ideal viewing conditions. Not very impressive for a major meteor shower, but it's important to keep in mind that the Ursids are not the only bits of space rubble flying around our upper atmosphere this time of year. 

The mighty Geminids are still active, along with the Ursids, right up until Christmas. So you can also think of the Ursids as a holiday gift giving a last-minute boost to one of the biggest meteor showers of the year. Between the Geminids, the Ursids and a few other minor meteor showers active right now, you might be able to catch over a dozen meteors per hour just about any night this week under ideal conditions.

Stellar 2021 Perseid meteor shower shines in shots from around the world

See all photos

There's also a small chance we could get an Ursid outburst, giving us up to 25 meteors per hour or more. 

While storms are predicted for a significant portion of North America and elsewhere, those places with clear skies will have long, dark winter nights largely unspoiled by the light of the moon, which will be just the slightest sliver in the heavens after it rises. 

The biggest impediment to see meteors this holiday season is the weather. Obviously, if it's cloudy where you are, you're out of luck. If skies are clear, you're in good shape but will probably need to prepare yourself to spend at least an hour outside in likely cold. For the best experience, an hour lying on your back and just staring up at the darkened dome above us is essential. 

You'll need at least 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust, and the rest of the hour to ensure you see as many meteors as possible since they tend to come in bunches, followed by long lulls of inactivity. At least that's the way it always seems.

So bundle up, bring some hot drinks and prepare your best arguments to convince family and friends that it will be worth spending an hour outside in the dark staring at the sky this holiday season.

First published on Dec. 22, 2022 at 9:13 a.m. PT.

Ursids Boost Holiday Meteor Count: How to See the Forgotten Meteor Shower This Week

Some gifts are best left unwrapped, because they're going to be lit on fire when they crash into our atmosphere.

See full bioDec. 23, 2022 8:54 a.m. PT

If you can bear to step outside this week and spend some time hanging out in the dark and the cold, it might be worth your while.

The end of the year isn't thought of as an ideal time to go outside looking for shooting stars, given frigid temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere and copious attention devoted to the holidays. But December is actually the best month for meteors by many measures, and a little-known meteor shower will give a boost to their numbers in the night sky just before Christmas this week. 

The Ursid meteor shower isn't a household name. It's arguably the least known of the dozen major meteor showers of 2022, as designated by the International Meteor Organization. This is probably because it not only comes at a chilly, busy time of year for many people, but it also arrives on the heels of the mighty Geminid meteor shower, which peaks a week earlier. 

The Ursids can really only be seen from the Northern Hemisphere (brrrr...) and typically produce about five to 10 meteors per hour at peak under ideal viewing conditions. Not very impressive for a major meteor shower, but it's important to keep in mind that the Ursids are not the only bits of space rubble flying around our upper atmosphere this time of year. 

The mighty Geminids are still active, along with the Ursids, right up until Christmas. So you can also think of the Ursids as a holiday gift giving a last-minute boost to one of the biggest meteor showers of the year. Between the Geminids, the Ursids and a few other minor meteor showers active right now, you might be able to catch over a dozen meteors per hour just about any night this week under ideal conditions.

Stellar 2021 Perseid meteor shower shines in shots from around the world

See all photos

There's also a small chance we could get an Ursid outburst, giving us up to 25 meteors per hour or more. 

While storms are predicted for a significant portion of North America and elsewhere, those places with clear skies will have long, dark winter nights largely unspoiled by the light of the moon, which will be just the slightest sliver in the heavens after it rises. 

The biggest impediment to see meteors this holiday season is the weather. Obviously, if it's cloudy where you are, you're out of luck. If skies are clear, you're in good shape but will probably need to prepare yourself to spend at least an hour outside in likely cold. For the best experience, an hour lying on your back and just staring up at the darkened dome above us is essential. 

You'll need at least 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust, and the rest of the hour to ensure you see as many meteors as possible since they tend to come in bunches, followed by long lulls of inactivity. At least that's the way it always seems.

So bundle up, bring some hot drinks and prepare your best arguments to convince family and friends that it will be worth spending an hour outside in the dark staring at the sky this holiday season.

First published on Dec. 22, 2022 at 9:13 a.m. PT.“

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Elon Musk Twitter poll results say CEO should step down - The Washington Post

Musk’s Twitter poll says he should step down from social network’s helm

"The Twitter CEO has said he would abide by results of the 12-hour poll, which came after a chaotic stretch at the company he has owned since October

Faiz Siddiqui

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk’s own Twitter poll results say he should step down from the helm of the social network, in a referendum that Musk promised to follow after broad criticism of his stewardship of the company.

The poll closed early Monday morning after 12 hours of voting, with 57.5 percent of more than 17 million responses calling Musk to step down. He later added, “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”

If Musk follows the results of the poll, it could thrust the company into even more uncertainty. Musk will remain owner of the social network, which would still give him enormous control over its policies. But he has not yet said whom he would choose as his successor, and that person could steer the company differently, and perhaps less erratically, than Musk has for the past two months.

The billionaire and self-dubbed “Chief Twit” purchased the company for $44 billion in October and made himself chief executive. Since then, it has become a frequent subject of his tweets, and employees have said he’s been a regular presence at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

Twitter ads appear next to white nationalists restored by Elon Musk

But that has raised concerns among investors — particularly in his electric car company Tesla — that the entrepreneur is stretched too thin. Some have questioned his effectiveness as CEO of two large technology companies, wondering whether he can effectively serve in both roles at once in addition to head of the rocket company SpaceX.

Adding fuel to the fire, Musk is known for running polls to affirm decisions he’s already made, perhaps most famously when he asked Twitter if he should sell off 10 percent of his stake in Tesla. Later, filings showed Musk had already adopted a trading plan, calling the poll at least partially into question.

Musk and Twitter did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Musk has made a rash of changes at Twitter, where he has said a chief priority is fixing the company’s code. He laid off approximately half the company’s 7,500 employees, issued an ultimatum mandating a hardcore culture that caused hundreds more to leave, and changed Twitter’s rules on the fly and by relying on polls — including reinstating former president Donald Trump.

Musk previously signaled that he didn’t plan to stay in charge of Twitter long term. He testified in Delaware court last month that he planned to find someone else to run Twitter and scale back his time at the company. He took the stand in response to a Tesla shareholder lawsuit, which argued that he was overpaid for his work in a 2018 compensation package from the automotive company, while he was splitting his time among several other companies.

Several of Musk’s supporters urged others to keep the billionaire at the helm. Seth Dillon, CEO of self-described Christian satirical site Babylon Bee, shared the poll Sunday, simply saying “No.” Musk reinstated Babylon Bee’s previously suspended account when he took over the company.

“Public mistakes > private malice,” Dillon said in a reply to Musk’s poll. “Twitter has never been more fun or fair than it is now.”

The unscientific and unrepresentative poll regarding Musk’s leadership came after a whirlwind week for Musk. Tesla’s stock price sank about 15 percent last week, capping off a dismal performance for the past few months, as some investors called on him to step aside from leadership at one of his companies to better focus.

Is plane tracking doxing? How public data enraged Elon Musk.

On Wednesday, Musk abruptly suspended an account that tracked his private jet by drawing on publicly available data. He followed that the next day by suspending reporters who had apparently tweeted about it — accusing them of posting “basically assassination coordinates” for him and his family. Musk launched a poll Thursday in which users voted to reinstate those banned.

By Sunday, as Musk tweeted from the World Cup finale, watching next to former Trump adviser Jared Kushner, Twitter enacted new rules prohibiting users from repeatedly promoting rival social media networks on the site, calling “free promotion” against the rules. Hordes of users, including some of Musk’s own supporters, rejected the new policy as draconian, despite Musk’s pledge to restore what he called “free speech” to the site.

Musk’s new policy also prohibited promotion of Facebook, Instagram and the app Truth Social, which was co-founded by Trump.

Musk issued a rare apology on Sunday after Twitter enacted new rules prohibiting users from repeatedly promoting rival social media networks on the site, saying he would put future policy decisions to a vote.

Later that night, @TwitterSafety tweeted a poll asking, “Should we have a policy preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms?”

The tweets and page outlining the new policies prohibiting content from outside networks also appeared to have been deleted.

The disjointed changes at the company appeared to catch the attention of European regulators, who have introduced new rules governing content moderation at Silicon Valley social networks.

“Platforms can’t keep flip-flopping on policies,” tweeted Thierry Breton, a European Union commissioner. He said that he’s instructed the commission’s teams to enforce the rules, known as the Digital Services Act, by Sept. 1. But he called for companies to comply sooner.

Musk’s poll about his leadership expired early Monday morning, before the opening of trading on Wall Street, where Tesla has lost half of its more than $1 trillion valuation from the spring.

Elon Musk’s role at Tesla questioned as Twitter occupies his attention

“Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it,” Musk tweeted late Sunday, as millions of users voted and the poll trended toward his stepping down."

Elon Musk Twitter poll results say CEO should step down - The Washington Post