Forecast Calls for Meteor Showers; No Umbrellas Necessary

If you get up very early the morning of November 17th (or stay up very late on the West Coast the night before), you might see something spectactular in the sky - fiery streaks of light.

It's called the Leonid meteor shower.

It's an annual event.

But this year, astronomers expect it to be unusually exciting.

One reason: there's a new moon on November 16th.

That means the moon won't be visible the morning of the 17th, so there won't be any moonlight in the sky to keep you from seeing the meteors.

So what is a meteor shower anyway?

And do you need to worry about fiery meteors hitting you or your home?

First of all, you don't need to worry.

Scientists say the meteors in the Leonid meteor shower burn up high in the atmosphere - 80 to 100 miles up.

And the meteors themselves are no larger than a grain of sand or a pea.

The reason you see the meteors at all is that they catch fire when they hit the Earth's atmosphere, according to the experts.

Where do the Leonid meteors come from?

Astronomers say the meteors come from streams of space debris - small bits of dust left behind by a comet called Tempel-Tuttle.

When the Earth passes through those streams, bits of debris pass through our atmosphere.

And those are the meteors in the meteor shower.

Experts say the meteors we're going to see this month are made up of debris released by the comet as far back as the 1400s!

To give you any idea how far back that is, Christopher Columbus was just a teenager when some of these meteors were created.

And why is it called the Leonid meteor shower?

Because according to astronomers, when you see the meteors in the night sky, they appear to be coming from the constellation Leo.

(A constellation is a formation of stars.)

To get the best view of the Leonid meteor shower this year, scientists say you need to be up between 3:30 and 5:30 AM the morning of November 17th on the East Coast.

On the West Coast, that's 12:30 to 2:30 AM. So you'll have to get your parents' permission to stay up really late.

If it's not cloudy, astronomers expect us to see a few dozen meteors.

But the best viewing is expected to be in central and eastern Asia.

Experts say people there might see as many as 300.

And if your parents don't want you up late on a school night, not to worry.

The Leonid meteor showers were expected to begin November 10th.

So you might be able to see some meteors next weekend.