If you get up early on Tuesday morning, you could see a spectacular show in the sky.
The Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak between 1 a.m. and dawn.
Since the moon is entering a new phase, it will give off very little light. That means you'll have dark skies as long as you can get away from city lights.
"We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia," said Bill Cooke of
NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.
According to
Space.com, people won't need any fancy telescope to see the shower. Instead, the naked eye is expected to work just fine.
"A remarkable feature of this year's shower is that Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars," said Cooke.
The Leonids are created by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. According to
Space.com, the comet passes through the inner solar system every 33 years.
During each pass, it leaves debris, mostly bits of ice and rock.
"When Earth plows into the debris, the bits hit the atmosphere and vaporize, creating sometimes dramatic streaks of light and the occasional fireball with a smoky-looking trail," writes Space.com.
The Leonids are named because they appear to radiate from the constellation Leo.
Will you watch the show on Tuesday morning? Click "add a comment" below to share your viewing tips and good locations to watch from.
