Starwatch: After the Geminids meteor shower, it is the turn of the Ursids

Patient watchers should wrap up warm to witness one of nature's subtler events on night of 22 to 23 December

If the Geminids whetted your appetite for meteor showers, then you are in luck. This week it is the turn of the Ursids. Admittedly, they are nowhere near as plentiful as the Geminids, producing a maximum of just 10 meteors an hour, but there is a unique satisfaction to witnessing one of nature's subtler events.

The dust grains that make up the Ursids come from the comet 8P/Tuttle, which was discovered in 1858 by the American astronomer Horace Parnell Tuttle, a prolific comet hunter.