Leonids Meteor Shower Peak Expected Early Tuesday (WATCH HERE)

Nov 17, 2014 07:34 AM EST | Matt Mercuro

The Leonids meteor shower is expected to peak during the early morning hours on Tuesday, November 18, 2014.   

The Leonids meteor shower should be visible at 3:00 a.m. local time from any populated area on Earth with clear dark skies, though the Northern Hemisphere skywatchers are favored due to the radiant's location in the constellation Leo, according to EarthSky.org.

The Leonids have been known to produce around 100,000 meteors per hour on occasion. This took place in 883 and in 1966, according to EarthSky.org. NASA scientists don't think this will happen in 2014 however.

Leonids are bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, and every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a dusty debris in its wake. A number of these streams have drifted across the November section of Earth's orbit. When Earth hits one, meteors look like they are flying out of the constellation Leo.

"We're predicting 10 to 15 meteors per hour," Dr. Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said in a written statement, according to the Huffington Post. "For best viewing, wait until after midnight on Nov. 18, with the peak of the shower occurring just before sunrise."

For those who want to wake up early and watch the show live, all you'll need to do is find an open sky, lie on the ground and look straight up into the sky. Do your best to stay away from artificial lights for optimal viewing.

Your eyes may take up to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness, so allow plenty of time for your eyes to adapt, according to NASA.

Skywatchers who won't be able to watch the show in person, Slooh Space Camera will be offering a live-stream of the shower starting at 8 p.m. EST. Click the link to check it out later tonight. 

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